They allow you to receive messages or sound alerts using a radio frequency, but we thought that pagers had disappeared. These small boxes came back into the news on Tuesday, September 17, when they were transformed into miniature bombs. The explosion of hundreds of devices used by members of the Lebanese Hezbollah left 12 dead and nearly 2,800 injured, according to a midday report on Wednesday.
Patented in the United States in 1949, the pager only allowed users to receive audible alerts or display a telephone number to call back from a landline. It was not until the 1980s that it became possible to read short written messages. To send a message, it was necessary to contact a switchboard, from which an operator would relay the information to the desired pager. It was then possible to send messages yourself via other technological tools, such as the Minitel.
2.3 million users in 1998
The pager was very popular in the 1980s and 1990s. More than 2.3 million people owned one in France in 1998, before it was relegated to the back of drawers in favor of mobile phones. Its use has nevertheless persisted in some sectors, notably hospitals, particularly in the United States.
According to a study by Journal of Hospital Medicine published in 2017, nearly 80% of American hospital doctors still used pagers and half of the messages received through them were related to patient care.
Contrary to popular belief, pagers can still be used in France. The company e*Message operates a network for professionals (doctors, firefighters, emergency services, on-call personnel, etc.) and claims 130,000 users in France.
A tool to limit the risk of hacking
The pagers use their own radio frequency, thus avoiding mobile phone networks, which can be overloaded, have connection problems or whose messages can be intercepted.
This is also one of the selling points of the Spok company, which still manufactures pagers: “Have peace of mind with pagers whose signal penetrates steel and metal, whereas a smartphone’s signal could be blocked,” boasts the American company on its website. “Beeper systems represent a more reliable means of communication, for example in the event of a Wi-Fi or telephone network failure,” also assures the manufacturer Discover Systems.
Some organizations, such as Hezbollah, have therefore bet on this technology. A way to avoid depending too much on mobile phones, which are considered less secure. As early as 1996, one of Hamas’ main bomb-makers, Yehia Ayache, was killed by the explosion of his booby-trapped phone.
Pagers, with their more “rudimentary” technology, help limit the risks of hacking, even if their messages can be intercepted. The tool also does not have a GPS chip, making it more difficult to geolocate its user.
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