Mobile Networks Call on Gov to Help Bring 5G Upgrades to 6,200 UK Sites
The Mobile Infrastructure Forum (MIF), which represents the main providers of mobile network infrastructure for EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK (i.e. Cellnex UK, Cornerstone, MBNL and WIG), has today called on the government to resolve the issue of 6,200 UK sites (masts etc.) that are “stuck in legislative limbo” and preventing 5G upgrades.
According to the MID, the aforementioned mobile sites – representing 16% of the UK’s total (40,000) and used by an estimated 15 million customers – remain under legacy legal frameworks governed by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland. But mobile firms complain that this makes it difficult to deploy the latest 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) upgrades to the sites.
The LTA 1954 can potentially create challenges because it provides security of tenure to tenants, including those holding access agreements for telecoms equipment. In short, landlords may be reluctant to grant access or agree to upgrades without legal intervention (even if the landlord wants to do it, the process can be tricky), potentially delaying or obstructing the rollout of new mobile technologies. Not to mention the added costs involved.
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The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 (PSTI) introduced measures to make broadband and mobile infrastructure sharing, as well as network upgrades and related dispute resolution, easier to deliver (see our summary). But those elements, which involve changes to the Electronic Communications Code (ECC) that govern related land/property access rights, are yet to be fully introduced (Ofcom have been implementing some of this separately).
The good news is that the Government did just publish a new consultation (here) on implementing some of the remaining elements of the PSTI and the forum are keen to push this forward. As part of today’s call, the MIF has highlighted how their members have successfully delivered over 32,500 4G and 5G service upgrades since the ECC reforms in 2018, with more than 4,600 leases having now been consensually agreed between infrastructure providers and landlords.
Further analysis reveals the effectiveness of the specialist Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in handling telecommunications cases. Since the PSTI Act was passed, only 39 renewals have required a full court hearing to date since the PSTI Act was implemented in 2022, with over 60% of these cases being raised via a single land aggregator (we suspect this may be a reference to AP Wireless’ sometimes tricky approach).
Belinda Fawcett, Chair of MIF, said:
“While we welcome the government’s consultation as a positive step forward, the data we have released today clearly shows why full implementation is essential. The ECC reforms have been remarkably successful in facilitating the upgrading of the UK’s mobile networks. We now have a clear, efficient and well drafted legal framework.
It is fantastic that we’ve seen 4,600 consensual agreements being reached, but it’s now crucial that the government implements all outstanding elements of the PSTI Act.
Fully extending these successful reforms, including the change of jurisdiction, to all the remaining sites would unlock significant infrastructure investment and accelerate delivery of the connectivity that underpins the UK’s digital economy.”
The MIF have also today said they would commit to provide transparent metrics on the following every 6 months: Lease renewals achieved, the number of service upgrades achieved and, volume of sites still trapped under legacy legislation. All of which represents useful information.
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As ever, the key challenge in making all of these changes is with doing them without significantly undermining or reducing the rights of existing or potential site providers (land/property owners etc.) – easier said than done. But part of this may also reflect the mobile operator’s desire to bring down rental payments, which remains are highly contentious area, albeit one that is a lot clearer today, following various tribunal rulings.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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5G is dead in the water. Early claims of benefits were frankly ridiculous.
99% of consumers are not willing to pay extra for it.
You pay extra for 5g?
Hate to say it but 5G excitement is as dead as a Dodo.
Customers aren’t interested, relentlessly crying to Goverment is pointless, aggravating and embarrassing to our industry.
Was the public in general excited for 4G? Because then, like now, most customers just want their calls and all data related tasks to work well all the time. They may *think* that more signal bars or a higher G means “better”, but that’s just their uninformed opinion and as long it works well, most don’t care if it’s using 5G or 3G.
In any case, this is not about 5G, but upgrades in general. Networks make it about that because politicians don’t understand how technology works and still think 5G is going to change everything… so they’re more likely to support this.
4G is fine, but like 3G before it, we now can do things more efficiently and in some places we need more than 4G is capable. That’s why 5G is a thing. It’s an evolution and that’s were development is happening. Eventually it will be 6G. This is no different than a company moving to new servers or to new software.
If networks want to use 5G as a selling point, then perhaps it’s time to change strategies and also point out how their 5G can work better in busy places or indoors. Gaming and gigabit speeds is not going to convince most non-nerds out there, I think.
I’m a customer. I want 5g.
It may be better not to focus on the “5G” in the title and more on just the ability to upgrade to any newer mobile tech, whatever ‘G’ is being talked about. Both 2G and 3G are on their way out, so you need to be able to progress, otherwise maintaining mobile coverage becomes problematic.
Thanks Mark,
Agree – on the sales floor our guys are mocked by customers in terms of 5G. Think we may have to accept 4G was the pinnacle of appropriate technology.
Customers demand super fast connectivity at home, on the move 4G is sufficient.
I’ve spent a lot of time in India, much of that time on extremely remote beaches. I always had full signal whether 2G or 3G (3G mostly), and most places had really good WiFi. This was between 2007 & 2012. The fact that when driving from one UK town to another I lose signal, is so frustrating. Technology in this country is backwards!!