Why do some people think pagers are safer than cell phones? Written after the pager explosion incident

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Denovo

Producer: China Science Expo

According to Xinhua News Agency, an explosion occurred in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on September 17, local time, involving several small radio communication devices. It is reported that the handheld pagers of several people were detonated and several members of Lebanon's Hezbollah were injured in the incident.

In addition, multiple incidents of handheld pagers being detonated occurred simultaneously in Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon and Hermel in northeastern Lebanon.

On September 17, in Beirut, Lebanon, people donated blood for the injured in the paging device explosion.

(Photo: Xinhua News Agency photo by Bilal Javeshi)

It is speculated that these pagers were sold to Hezbollah through intermediary companies in Hungary. However, there are signs that Israeli intelligence agencies may have planted explosive devices in the pager supply chain, causing these devices to be remotely detonated at the same time. This was a very sophisticated attack, mainly targeting Hezbollah's communication equipment. Hezbollah previously required its members to use pagers instead of mobile phones for security reasons, but this communication device has obviously become the focus of the attack.

Why do so many people in Lebanon still use pagers when mobile phones are so advanced? One theory is that they think pagers are safer than mobile phones. Are pagers really safer? Judging from the explosion, pagers are obviously not safe either. However, why do they have such an idea? Let's start with the principle of pagers.

How pagers work: radio communication technology

Pagers are mainly used to receive short messages. In a pager system, the sender dials a specified number or enters the message on the Internet, and the message is sent to a radio tower in a specific area through a sending station. The tower broadcasts the signal, and the pager receives and decodes the wireless signal.

Pager without call back function

(Image source: generated by the author’s AI)

The core principle of a pager is to transmit data via radio waves, usually using the ultra-high frequency (UHF) or very high frequency (VHF) bands. Because its signal can be widely transmitted, the pager will vibrate, sound a beep, and display the content of the message when it receives it.

Compared with mobile phones, pagers have the characteristics of low power consumption and the ability to receive information without a backhaul function. The backhaul function means that after receiving a message, the communication device can send a confirmation message to the sender through a certain communication mechanism, indicating that the message has been successfully received. This function is common in modern two-way communication devices, such as mobile phones, walkie-talkies, and Internet communication applications.

Pagers are widely used, especially in environments that require wide-area coverage and low power consumption, and are often used in emergency communications and medical fields. Compared with mobile phones, pagers do not rely on two-way communication, so they can still reliably receive messages even when network coverage is poor and calls are unavailable.

Why doesn't Hezbollah in Lebanon use mobile phones to communicate?

Let’s talk about mobile phone communication technology.

Mobile phones communicate through cellular networks, which are made up of many base stations, each covering a small area (called a "cell"). When a mobile phone sends a signal, the signal is sent to the nearest base station, and then transmitted to the operator's core network by wire or wireless means. The operator's network is responsible for forwarding the signal to the base station of the target mobile phone, and then the base station transmits the signal to the target mobile phone, realizing two-way communication.

Cell phones communicate via cellular networks

(Image source: pixabay.com)

Mobile phone communications use radio waves (usually in the UHF band) to encode voice or data into radio signals for transmission through modulation technology. Frequency allocation and time division multiplexing are used between mobile phones and base stations to ensure that each user's call or data transmission is not interfered with, forming a stable and efficient communication network.

Pagers are usually one-way communication devices that can only receive information and do not need to send back signals. This one-way communication design makes the information transmission path simpler, and because the information transmission frequency of the pager is fixed and the encryption process is less, the risk of information interception is lower, thus enhancing its confidentiality to a certain extent.

Pager

(Image source: pixabay.com)

In contrast, mobile phones conduct two-way communication, and the communication process passes through a complex transmission path such as multiple base stations, operator networks, and the Internet. Therefore, mobile phones have potential information leakage risks at each communication node.

In addition, mobile phones use wireless networks to transmit data, and the signals may be intercepted or monitored. Although modern mobile phones use encryption technology to protect data, they may still face the risk of network attacks, data leaks or monitoring. Therefore, the confidentiality of mobile phones is weaker than that of pagers.

Why do pagers explode? Can cell phones explode?

The pager explosion in Lebanon quickly became the focus of global media, not only because of its suddenness and huge destructive power, but also because it triggered deep concern about the core issue of modern society - the safety of electronic devices.

Lithium batteries in mobile phones can only explode under extreme conditions, such as overcharging, over-discharging, short circuiting, or exposure to high temperatures. These situations are very rare, and most modern lithium batteries are equipped with multiple protection mechanisms to prevent these problems from occurring. Therefore, the probability of lithium battery explosion is extremely low.

The probability of lithium batteries in mobile phones exploding is extremely low

(Image source: pixabay.com)

Under normal use conditions, lithium batteries are very stable and will not easily cause danger. As long as you use your phone according to the correct operating specifications, avoid exposure to extreme environments, and use qualified chargers and batteries, users do not need to worry too much about the safety of lithium batteries.

Pagers have been replaced, but the technology is not obsolete

Although traditional pager technology has gradually been replaced by mobile phones and Internet technology in modern communications, some of its basic principles and characteristics are still inherited and developed in some cutting-edge technologies and application scenarios.

Low-power communication for the Internet of Things (IoT): A key feature of pagers is low power consumption, which is very consistent with the needs of IoT devices. In IoT networks, a large number of devices need to run for a long time without frequent battery replacement. Therefore, low-power wireless communication technologies similar to pagers, such as LoRa, NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things), etc., are becoming popular technologies in the field of IoT. These technologies provide efficient and low-power communication methods in scenarios where devices only need to send small amounts of data, similar to the one-way communication mode of pagers.

In addition, the high reliability and wide coverage of pagers are still useful in emergency communications. Modern emergency communication systems need to maintain basic message delivery functions in extreme situations (such as disasters and network outages). As a reliable one-way broadcast system, pager technology can be combined with modern emergency communication technology to ensure that information can be efficiently delivered in emergencies.

Similar concepts also appear in some modern public safety wireless networks, which require high coverage and stable signal transmission. The low-frequency communication method of pagers can provide some reference.

Conclusion

Although pagers have gradually faded out of the mainstream market due to technological updates, their low power consumption and wide coverage still have application value in certain specific environments. The pager explosion in Lebanon has raised new questions about the security of electronic devices. Both pagers and mobile phones may become targets of attack. Communication methods in modern society are becoming more and more complex and diverse, and security protection must also keep pace with the times to ensure that information transmission can be carried out smoothly under the premise of safety, whether in daily use or special scenarios.