GTPS
Encyclopedia
The Government Telephone Preference Scheme (GTPS) is a British
system for limiting outgoing calls from landline
s if the network is overloaded during an emergency. Numbers registered under the GTPS will still be able to make outgoing calls if the service is limited. All telephones will still be able to receive calls.
There are three categories of use - the most essential are called Preference Category I, and are limited to 2% of lines of a telephone exchange. According to a British government document they are intended to be limited to "lines vital to the prosecution of war and to national survival". The second category - Preference Category II - are for lines needed for the community and these and Preference Category I are limited in total to 10% of the exchange. All other users are in Category III.
The scheme was established in the 1950s.
Phones on the scheme include armed forces headquarters, local authority emergency planning centres, emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance and public telephone boxes. Since 1992 the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation
and Royal Observer Corps
operational lines have been deleted from the scheme.
A similar scheme limiting mobile telephone access is called MTPAS
(formerly ACCOLC
).
The GTPS should not be confused with the Telephone Preference Service
which is an opt out telephone list funded by the British direct marketing industry.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
system for limiting outgoing calls from landline
Landline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
s if the network is overloaded during an emergency. Numbers registered under the GTPS will still be able to make outgoing calls if the service is limited. All telephones will still be able to receive calls.
There are three categories of use - the most essential are called Preference Category I, and are limited to 2% of lines of a telephone exchange. According to a British government document they are intended to be limited to "lines vital to the prosecution of war and to national survival". The second category - Preference Category II - are for lines needed for the community and these and Preference Category I are limited in total to 10% of the exchange. All other users are in Category III.
The scheme was established in the 1950s.
Phones on the scheme include armed forces headquarters, local authority emergency planning centres, emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance and public telephone boxes. Since 1992 the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation
United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation
The United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation was a British civilian organisation operating between 1957 and 1992 to provide the authorities with data about nuclear explosions and forecasts of likely fallout profiles across the country in the event of war.The UKWMO was established and...
and Royal Observer Corps
Royal Observer Corps
The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down....
operational lines have been deleted from the scheme.
A similar scheme limiting mobile telephone access is called MTPAS
MTPAS
MTPAS is a British procedure for prioritising access to the mobile telephone networks for privileged persons...
(formerly ACCOLC
ACCOLC
ACCOLC was a procedure in the United Kingdom for restricting mobile telephone usage in the event of emergencies...
).
The GTPS should not be confused with the Telephone Preference Service
Telephone Preference Service
The Telephone Preference Service is a UK opt-out telephone list that is intended to prevent telemarketing calls to those who do not wish to receive them. The list is administered on behalf of Ofcom by the British direct marketing industry, who also run the Mailing Preference Service and Fax...
which is an opt out telephone list funded by the British direct marketing industry.