Telecoms Providers Join UK Landowners in Connectivity Alliance

A new National Connectivity Alliance (the NCA) has been launch today, which for the first time brings together UK telecommunications providers (mobile and broadband), infrastructure providers, landowners and their professional advisers. The goal is to collaborate on areas of mutual interest and that may boost the rollout of new networks.

At this point it’s probably fair to say that digital infrastructure developers and landowners haven’t always seen eye to eye. In the past, it was often landowners that would extract highly lucrative rental agreements in return for allowing operators to deploy infrastructure on their land (e.g. mobile masts, trenches for optical fibre etc.), which made it too expensive for operators to expand their coverage as much as they would have liked.

The government attempted to correct this in 2017 by revising the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) to make it easier and cheaper for operators to access public or private land (here). But that initially swung the problem in the other direction and resulted in some providers, particularly mobile operators, trying to force the adoption of dramatically lower rents (sometimes slashing rents worth thousands to just a few tens of pounds).

Such low rents often neglected the fact that landowners also faced complex considerations, such as the need to facilitate access and the inability to repurpose such sites for other, more lucrative ventures, once deployed. Likewise, where rooftop sites on buildings are concerned, there can be issues of mobile kit impacting insurance, proximity of base stations to residents (safety), and the fact that the property owner has to keep the area repaired (potentially becoming liable if they fail to do so) etc.

Several court cases have since helped to tackle some of the most common disputes that followed (example), while the forthcoming Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (PSTI) intends to make further changes in order to boost the rollout of broadband and mobile networks. Suffice to say that encouraging greater collaboration between both sides is a positive thing, and that’s where the NCA comes in.

Carlos Pierce, Partner Blaser Mills Law and NCA Chair & Co-Founder, said:

“We are delighted to launch the National Connectivity Alliance today as the only cross industry body regarding access to land. Not only does the NCA demonstrate a necessary collective will from the industry to improve digital connectivity, it will also drive best practice through collaboration and understanding. By encouraging greater education and communication, the NCA will be able to deliver greater awareness of the needs of all in the sector as well as the general public.”

Julia Lopez MP, Digital Infrastructure Minister, said:

“I welcome the creation of this new alliance, which will bring together industry and landowners to improve negotiations and make sure we are doing everything we can to boost connectivity, productivity and the economy. We continue to support investment in world class connectivity for people across the UK, whether they’re in London, or a village in the Scottish Highlands.”

According to the announcement on the NCA’s website, the group’s membership currently includes everybody from Cellnex, Mobile UK, Openreach (BT) and Gigaclear to the NFU, RICS, WIG, MBNL (Three UK and EE) and many more.

Members of the Digital Connectivity Alliance Steering Group:
o Blaser Mills Law
o British Land plc
o British Property Federation
o Carter Jonas
o Cell CM Limited
o Cellnex
o Cluttons
o Community Fibre
o Cornerstone
o Country Land and Business Association
o DWF Law LLP
o Gigaclear
o Law Society
o Mobile Broadband Network Limited
o Mobile UK
o National Farmers Union
o Openreach
o Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP
o Philip Morris FRICS
o Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
o Wireless Infrastructure Group