New rule for emergency mobile priority

Local police commanders will now control priority phone access

emergency services will have priority access to phone communications in the event of major disasters

Local police commanders are to decide who has priority for mobile phone network access in the event of a disaster such as the 7/7 London bombings.

Under the Mobile Telephone Privileged Access Scheme (MTPAS) ­ priority can only be activated by the police’s “gold commander” ­ – the person who co-ordinates incident response.

Previously, privileged access was controlled centrally from the Cabinet Office. The new system is designed to provide a more agile response, according to Nigel Brown, head of resilient communications in the Cabinet Office.

“We want to help our responding community to have the best access they can,” he said.

The system does not “shut down” civilian phones, but gives those with a special mobile phone SIM card priority if networks are congested. SIMs issued under the old scheme – ­ called Access Overload Control ­ – will still work with the new system.

The change of responsibility is part of a new strategy from the Cabinet Office which reviewed who controls access to phone communications after terrorist attacks and other disasters.

In the case of larger events ­ such as the 2007 floods, ­ this responsibility will be transferred to a regional commander and then, if needed, a national one.

The move is a response to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 which aimed to establish a clearer framework for the role of local authorities in responding to an emergency.