MTPAS
MTPAS (Mobile Telecommunication Privileged Access Scheme) is a British procedure for prioritising access to the mobile telephone networks for privileged persons (members of emergency services as designated at a local level). It is replacing ACCOLC in 2009, and during the crossover period sim cards registered in the ACCOLC scheme will continue to gain priority.
The changeover is being made in order to "devolve responsibility and management of the Scheme to the local level", "coordinate a common approach to the Scheme in England and Wales", improve the effectiveness by further limiting the number of users, and to "ensure clarity regarding activation of the scheme."
Activation of MTPAS is the responsibility of the mobile networks, who after receiving a signed proforma from a Gold Commander have the responsibility in implementing it by whatever means they deem suitable. Unlike ACCOLC, MTPAS appears to not go straight to full blocking of all civilian (unprivileged) users but rather prioritizing privileged users by increasing the bandwidth available to them. This would mean that MTPAS can not be used to disable the mobile network in order to prevent triggering of IEDs.