Germany experienced a nationwide disruption of its digital radio communication system for police and emergency services, as confirmed by the Federal Authority for Digital Radio of Authorities and Organizations with Security Tasks (BDBOS).

Despite the communication failures, emergency call numbers remained operational, allowing police and fire services to continue receiving requests for assistance.

In certain regions, there was a complete loss of digital radio communications, forcing emergency responders to rely on telephone communication, which raised concerns during critical situations.

The outages varied in duration and severity across different regions, with some areas only experiencing brief disruptions.

This issue was particularly evident during an accident in Scheßlitz, where emergency responders struggled with coordination due to reliance on mobile phones for communication.

Stephan Weh, head of the Police Union in Berlin, criticized the reliance on a single digital network, highlighting the risks to public safety and the potential consequences of communication failures.

He emphasized the critical nature of reliable communication for emergency services, noting that it can be a matter of life and death.

In Hamburg, the digital radio system experienced complete outages at times, with instability persisting into the evening.

Media reports indicated that network issues were the cause of the digital radio failure, as communicated by the Federal Office for Digital Radio.

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) confirmed that there was no evidence of a cyberattack being responsible for the disruption.

By Tuesday evening, some states reported improvements, and the network operator began implementing measures to alleviate the disruption.

The Ministry of the Interior in North Rhine-Westphalia acknowledged the nationwide disruption and informed police departments about the situation.