Lebanon Explosions: What Is A Pager And Why Are Hezbollah Members Still Using It? – News18

The news of deadly explosions of pagers used by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has brought these early communication devices in limelight.

At least nine people were killed and over 2,700 people including Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut injured after hundreds of pagers exploded across Lebanon. The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly blasts, which the Lebanese government condemned as “criminal Israeli aggression.” However, Tel Aviv is yet to comment on the incident.

Lebanese media speculated that pagers were allegedly hacked by Israeli intelligence services, causing the batteries to overheat and then explode.

What Is A Pager?

A pager, also known as a beeper, works different than phones. This compact battery-powered radio receiver alerts the user through sound or vibration when it receives a specific signal. Depending on the model, pager have several features like it can show either a numeric message, such as a phone number, or a text message, like “Call Home.”

After gaining widespread popularity from the late 1980s through the 1990s, pagers started to fall out of favor in 2000s when smaller and more affordable cell phones hit the markets.

There are two primary types of pagers: one-way pagers only receive messages while two-way pagers have the capability to both send and receive messages.

Pagers were widely used in fields like healthcare, and emergency services before phones. It is still used in places where cell networks might be compromised, protecting privacy of communication.

How Pagers Are Different From Smartphones

Unlike smartphones, pagers focus on critical messages while filtering out the usual daily notifications. Without GPS or Bluetooth, one of the smartphones’ features, pagers is usually preferred by those who do want their location to be tracked.

Privacy, cost-effectiveness, and functionality in environments where cellphones might be restricted makes pagers a communication device in various fields, from healthcare to high-security government operations.