{"id":36206,"date":"2023-11-02T16:33:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T16:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=36206"},"modified":"2023-11-02T16:33:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T16:33:18","slug":"council-suspend-ms3s-full-fibre-poles-rollout-in-hedon-over-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/11\/council-suspend-ms3s-full-fibre-poles-rollout-in-hedon-over-safety.html","title":{"rendered":"Council Suspend MS3’s Full Fibre Poles Rollout in Hedon Over Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council<\/a> (ERYC) in England appears to have handed anti-pole campaigners in Hedon a small, if most likely only temporary, victory by suspending MS3<\/a>‘s deployment of a new 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP<\/a>) broadband ISP network in the area over “allegations of unsafe work activity.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

The MS3<\/a> deployment has hit the headlines a number of times over the past few months (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), with residents in part of the town protesting against their use of wooden telecoms poles to run the new cables – as opposed to putting everything underground (often at significantly greater cost).<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> MS3<\/a> is being backed by an unspecified investment from Asterion<\/strong> and has so far covered 158,779 premises passed (119,139 Ready for Service).<\/div>\n

Such poles do not require planning permission and are less disruptive to install, but some people – usually those who live in areas that haven’t had them before – tend to view them as being ugly and less durable in storms. The fact that poles can appear with only the most minimal of prior notification is another bugbear that can rub people up the wrong way.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks the situation in Hedon has become particularly combative, with some residents doing everything they can to physically obstruct MS3<\/a>’s deployment of new poles (blocking roads, parking over build sites etc.). The police were even called in to help resolve one such dispute. But the latest development has seen the local authority suspend MS3’s build in the area over “allegations of unsafe work activity<\/em>” (BBC<\/a>).<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“In response to the feedback from the local community, the council has decided to suspend the ongoing works of MS3 for their project in the area. The works of MS3 will resume only after the council is satisfied necessary adjustments have been implemented.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A spokesperson for MS3 informed ISPreview that the suspension related to a video that was posted on social media this week, which allegedly appeared to show one of their contractors operating after dark “without following all our own strict health and safety guidelines for these circumstances<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for MS3 said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We have subsequently agreed with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to pause poling works in East Riding whilst a full health and safety reviews takes place. We met with Council officials this morning (2nd November), who were supportive of our plans.<\/p>\n

This does not impact other areas of our build or when using underground delivery or utilising third party infrastructure. We are fully committed to ensuring we, and our contractors, exceed minimum criteria for our build standards whilst continuing to provide much needed broadband competition in our area where we are seeing hundreds of new customers signing up to save money every week.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A quick Google suggests that the video in question might be this one, although it’s unclear if this is actually the case (there’s precious little detail or identifying information). But MS3 have otherwise agreed to the responsible approach of pausing their work while a safety review is undertaken. Contractors do sometimes cut corners and, given the spotlight that MS3 is under, we suspect they won’t have been happy with any lapses in this area.<\/p>\n