Taiwan city to test network slowdown during air defense drill

Chiayi City will hold a "Town Resilience (Air Defense) Exercise" on August 10, which will include a drill to reduce mobile network speeds. This is the first time the city is coordinating with the central government for a mobile network speed reduction exercise. The Chiayi City Police Bureau advises residents to download applications such as "Police Services," "Fire and Disaster Prevention e-Tong," and "iChiayi APP" beforehand. These apps can help citizens locate nearby air-raid shelters and provide guidance on crisis response.

The exercise, scheduled from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM, will involve practical drills for warning transmission and dissemination, evacuation, traffic control, and other necessary measures. The police bureau emphasized that during the drill, people hearing air-raid sirens should cooperate with authorities. Owners and managers of air-raid shelters, including residents and security personnel, must open basement gates or barriers for nearby civilians seeking shelter. Pedestrians and drivers should follow police and civil defense guidance to reach the nearest shelters.

Chiayi City Police Chief Chen Ming-chih stated that the mobile network speed reduction drill aims to simulate a situation where communication networks are limited during a crisis. While general internet speeds will be lowered, essential services like 110 and 119 emergency calls, regular voice calls, SMS, and Cellular Broadcasting System (CBS) messages will function normally. He advised the public and businesses to avoid handling important matters via mobile phones during the drill and to minimize non-essential internet usage, recommending the use of fixed-line internet if online access is necessary.

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During the drill, mobile network speeds will be reduced, but 110, 119 emergency calls, general voice calls, SMS, and disaster warning cell broadcast messages (CBS) will still function normally.