Planning red tape makes mobile signal worse, networks claim

Labour’s planning red tape is making mobile signals worse, Britain’s network operators have claimed.

Mobile UK, which represents BT’s EE, VodafoneThree and O2, warned that arduous planning processes were partly to blame for “frustrating” gaps in coverage.

The industry body said examples of red tape included so-called “notices to quit”, a legal demand requiring network operators to remove mobile masts when buildings are being redeveloped.

It said that while masts were quickly removed, the process of securing permission to construct a new site offering equivalent coverage could take 18 months or longer.

Mobile UK said around 7pc of mobile sites in London could be offline at any one time as a result of these hold-ups in councils.

Hamish MacLeod, the chief executive of Mobile UK, writes in The Telegraph that although ministers were attempting to tackle the problem, “longer-term, strategic planning” was needed.

He said Britain needed to “remove the barriers” to create more reliable connectivity.

Outdoor 5G coverage is currently available across 97pc of the UK from at least one provider. However, Britons have long been frustrated by sluggish speeds as networks struggle to cope with substantial capacity demands.

Research has shown that Britain ranks lowest for 5G download speeds in the G7, prompting complaints from MPs that patchy coverage is harming productivity.

Operators are deploying so-called “standalone” 5G – an upgraded version of current networks – to improve coverage.

They are also turning to satellite technology to help tackle signal “not-spots” in rural areas. O2 last week became the first UK mobile provider to launch its satellite service after striking a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Mobile UK argued that good coverage helped to stimulate economic growth and support public services, and that infrastructure needed to be in place before demand.

Mr MacLeod added: “What we need isn’t just for planning rules to catch up. Rather, we need them to leapfrog where we are now, so that they’re already in place for the next generation of technology.”

Britain’s mobile and broadband firms have long complained that overly complex planning rules and Nimbyism have slowed the rollout of new networks.

In 2024, the Conservative government wrote to broadband providers asking them to limit the installation of unsightly telegraph poles following a backlash from locals, particularly in picturesque rural areas such as the Cotswolds.

Efforts to deploy mobile masts in remote areas have also been hampered by complaints about the aesthetic and environmental impact of the infrastructure.

In one instance, the Scottish National Trust objected to the construction of a mobile mast close to the mountain resort of Glencoe months after a father and son were killed in a hiking accident in the same area.

The objections prompted a furious response from the industry, which questioned whether campaigners were putting Nimbyism before safety concerns.

At the time, mobile industry sources said that new network coverage could prove life-saving, although they said there was no guarantee that coverage would have saved the father and son.

Meanwhile, the rural 5G rollout is being threatened by a row with farmers, who have warned they will stop hosting mobile infrastructure on their land amid frustration over rent cuts.

The latest demands from the industry come after the Government opened a consultation on planning reforms in December.

Ministers have also launched a major review of the wider mobile market as part of an effort to ensure network infrastructure can keep up with surging demand for mobile data.

A government spokesman said: “Access to high-quality, reliable 5G networks is essential to boosting our economy and delivering services which are fit for modern life.

“Our call for evidence on targeted planning reforms is designed to accelerate the rollout of digital infrastructure.

“As part of this, we are considering measures that make it easier to quickly install replacement equipment and maintain network coverage – like allowing longer temporary redeployment after a notice to quit and expanding permitted development rights for telecoms operators.

“The findings will inform our next steps to reduce barriers in digital infrastructure deployment, including whether to consult and legislate in the future.”

Delivering infrastructure before demand will boost productivity

By Hamish MacLeod

The UK is already losing billions of pounds by delivering infrastructure too long after it’s actually needed. We must reverse the gap between demand and delivery.

In the 1926 film, The General, Buster Keaton precariously balances himself on the front of a train, removing railroad ties before they derail the locomotive on which he sits: the epitome of a “just in time” policy.

The General might have first been screened a century ago but the scene still serves as a useful metaphor about the need to deliver ahead of demand. The UK needs to drive growth but to do so we must ensure the right foundations are in place.

This applies across multiple policy areas but in infrastructure it’s particularly acute. Done well, digital infrastructure shouldn’t be built to “meet” demand but to stimulate it in the first place.

When it comes to major planning decisions, the UK’s record is noticeably poor. From the long-running saga of HS2 to massive data centre projects scuppered by a minor administrative failure, our system is a mass of hundreds of well-intentioned but accumulatively burdensome rules which slow down delivery and make it more costly.

For major projects, there’s no quick fix. The Government is showing signs of trying to grapple with the problem but it will take a determined effort to resolve. By contrast, amending rules to support smaller planning processes can be done very, very quickly. One such area is the deployment of mobile sites.

Digital networks are a critical piece of national infrastructure and one where the greatest productivity is delivered by ensuring it can be in place ahead of demand.

A slow data connection in a busy city centre is at best frustrating but at worst financially impactful for businesses through lost sales. Yet at present, around 7pc of mobile sites in London can be offline at any one time as landlords seek to redevelop buildings and networks struggle to secure replacement sites fast enough.

To be clear, this isn’t just about councils and planning decisions. It is about competing interests not always working in harmony.

A notorious example in the industry is “notices to quit”: legal demands served to commence the removal of an existing mast.

These are commonplace and part of a natural planning process that networks need to deal with, but timescales for finding and securing a new site that delivers equivalent coverage to the one lost, coupled with a full planning process to obtain approval, can take 18 months or longer.

There arises a conflict between a landlord or developer desperate to get a mobile site removed, often with the support of councillors, and a process of replacement not currently designed to be agile, resulting in a gap between the old site going offline and the new one working.

The Government knows this and is grasping the nettle. It has recently launched a slew of consultations to improve the environment for mobile infrastructure, as well as a wider mobile market review.

If they deliver the changes needed, it will help. But longer-term strategic planning is also needed.

For example, the introduction to proposed changes to planning rights talks again about connectivity needing to meet business demand, rather than the more ambitious goal of energising it.

Streamlining planning policy to support the more agile deployment of mobile capacity will allow that coverage to be delivered more quickly. Some of the main beneficiaries of this could be the very public services that sit in different council departments, allowing them access to secure, reliable networks over which to innovative.

It will also allow businesses to grow more quickly, no longer held up by poor connectivity. Research shows this is a multibillion-pound productivity opportunity.

As the UK’s three mobile networks seek to deliver advanced 5G connectivity, evidence suggests that could be worth up to £230bn.

Mobile networks – and digital infrastructure more broadly – should be there to stimulate demand, giving the capacity and speed that businesses need to innovate and compete with their global peers from day one.

What we need isn’t just for planning rules to catch up. Rather, we need them to leapfrog where we are now so that they’re already in place for the next generation of technology.

This lesson can be applied across many parts of the economy. From rail networks to housing, only by reducing the lag time between demand and supply can we realise the productivity benefits the UK needs.

As we enter an AI era, demand for reliable connectivity is growing rapidly and sizeably. We have to remove the barriers and support it, or the train may have already left the station.

Hamish MacLeod is the chief executive of Mobile UK

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