§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the access overload control scheme was established; what is its aim; how many categories there are in the scheme; how many mobile phone companies are subject to the scheme; which agencies or Government Departments are authorised to put the scheme into practice; and how many times the scheme has been put into practice since it was established. [15535]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe access overload scheme was first established in November 1989. Its aim is to ensure that in an emergency, essential users at the scene of an incident will have priority access to cellular radio networks which might otherwise be congested by non-essential users.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the purpose of the Government telephone preference scheme; when it was established; how many categories there are in the scheme; how these categories are defined; and how many times the scheme has been put into practice since 1967. [15534]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe purpose of the Government telephone preference scheme (GTPS) is to provide assured access for essential users in an emergency, when there may be a heavy load placed on the public telephone network, or the network itself may have been damaged. It was established in the late 1950s when there was a threat of massive nuclear war destroying significant parts of the national infrastructure.
651WThere are three categories in the scheme, the first category being that of essential users such as the emergency services or government response teams. The second category is public call boxes and some payphones, and the third is the general public.
Records prior to 1987 are no longer available.
Since 1987, the preference scheme was activated by British Telecom as follows:
- August 1987: Hungerford
- October 1987: South-east England
- January 1890: Southern England
- December 1990: Midlands
- February 1993: Welford upon Avon
- June 1993: Chadford.
There are two categories in the scheme. First, public access in ten classes of equal status and, secondly, essential user access in three classes.
The Police Incident Commander has the authority to request the invocation of the scheme or exceptionally, the Cabinet Office, in consultation with the lead Government Department for the incident.
The scheme has been invoked on three occasions at Aintree, Crewe and Gatwick, all in April 1997.