A government consultation has been
launched on whether to make changes to the law around digital
infrastructure, such as phone masts and broadband cabinets, with
a view to providing more homes with improved internet and mobile
coverage.
Announced by Digital Minister , the consultation will review the legal framework for
building and maintaining these structures on private and public
land.
While progress has been made since the UK’s Electronic
Communications Code was reformed in 2017, stakeholders have
reported that negotiations do not always progress smoothly and
agreements can take a long time to complete. This is holding back
homes and businesses from accessing better mobile coverage and
much faster gigabit broadband.
The consultation will explore whether changes to the Code are
required to encourage faster and more collaborative negotiations
between landowners and telecoms providers. It will also examine
whether there are ways that the use of existing infrastructure
can be improved.
, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said:
As part of our vision to level up the UK with better
connectivity and faster broadband speeds, we’re looking at
reforming the law so people can get the benefits of better
connectivity as soon as possible.
We’re also investing £5.5 billion to roll out nationwide
gigabit broadband and improve poor mobile coverage.
The consultation seeks views on: issues that have arisen relating
to obtaining and using Code agreements; rights to upgrade and
share infrastructure; and difficulties relating to the renewal of
expired agreements.
The consultation proposes reviewing automatic rights which can be
used when a phone mast needs to be upgraded from 4G to 5G or
shared among operators to remove coverage blackspots, to make
clear when these rights should be available.
Views are also being sought on whether greater certainty is
needed for operators and landowners about what will happen when
their land agreements come to an end and how they can be renewed.
The 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code were made
to support faster and easier rollout in rural areas, balancing
the need for digital infrastructure with the rights of landowners
and other site providers.
Hamish MacLeod, Director at Mobile UK, said:
The Government has set ambitious targets on extending coverage
and capacity and getting the regulatory framework right to
enable operators to deploy their networks is essential. We
welcome the consultation on the Electronic Communications Code
as a vital part of this strategy.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- The consultation will provide all interested parties with the
opportunity to comment on the scale and scope of potential
reforms. The deadline for responses is 24 March 2021.
- The Electronic Communications Code is the legal framework
underpinning agreements between landowners and communications
operators in the UK. The Code was substantially reformed in 2017
to make it cheaper and easier for electronic communications
apparatus to be deployed, maintained, shared and upgraded. Now,
more than ever, it is important that operators are able to do
this at pace.
- The purpose of this consultation is to understand whether
changes to the Code are needed. Whether changes are introduced
will depend on our findings from this consultation. A full
response to the consultation will be published in due course, and
will provide further information on any changes to be made and,
if so, the timescales for that. Should the government decide that
reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are needed, this
would require primary legislation.
