{"id":37519,"date":"2024-03-14T11:30:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T11:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=37519"},"modified":"2024-03-14T11:44:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T11:44:17","slug":"gov-ponders-action-to-tackle-broadband-pole-and-5g-mast-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/03\/gov-ponders-action-to-tackle-broadband-pole-and-5g-mast-complaints.html","title":{"rendered":"Gov Ponders Action to Tackle Broadband Pole and 5G Mast Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Government’s Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, has revealed that she will next week hold a roundtable with colleagues, as well as Ofcom<\/a>, to discuss rising community complaints against the use of broadband poles and wireless masts to deliver digital infrastructure. But this time, some action may follow.<\/p>\n

Despite being a common sight across the UK (Openreach<\/a> alone have around 4 million of them), a fair few people find poles ugly and often bemoan the lack of prior direct consultation before installation. Such issues can also become particularly emotive when they\u2019re deployed into areas that haven\u2019t previously had them before, where too many poles are already deemed to exist or engineers fail to follow safety rules while building (examples here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> We recommend reading the Revised Cabinet and Pole Siting Code of Practice Nov 2016<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Similar gripes are often levelled against mobile masts too, although it often only takes one of those to cover a wide area and bigger installations often require planning permission. By comparison, poles that are used to carry overhead cables on streets (telecoms or electricity) can often be deployed under Permitted Development<\/strong> (PD) rights with only minimal prior notice.<\/p>\n

Network operator\u2019s often use poles because they\u2019re significantly cheaper, less disruptive and quicker to deploy than running new trenches down pavements. Sometimes they may even be the only viable option due to the limitations of the area (no existing ducts or space for new trenching etc.). The high cost of trenching also means that poles often make the difference between an area getting a competitive full fibre network or being skipped.<\/p>\n

However, sometimes the complaints against such infrastructure can also run the risk of straying too far into the depths of NIMBYISM or conspiracy theories. For example, we remember when some people began opposing and even attacking 5G<\/a> mobile masts, as well as engineers, out of a preposterously nonsense belief that COVID-19<\/strong> was being spread or created by their radio signals (fact check<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This week also saw broadband operator MS3<\/a> take flak in Hull (East Yorkshire), again, after they were accused of being “disrespectful<\/em>” for having deployed one of their poles near a war memorial (here<\/a>). But a quick look at the pictures on that article show the pole sitting, on the opposite side of the main road, away from the memorial itself, which itself is already surrounded by various other street lights, signs, pedestrian crossings and so forth. Nevertheless, MS3<\/a> do plan to review the placement, but it’s a good example of how tricky it can be to placate every grumble and find the right balance.<\/p>\n

Lest we forget that a large group of network operators recently called on the UK Government and Ofcom<\/a> to urgently help tackle a recent rise in attacks \u2013 often committed by criminal gangs and vandals \u2013 against vital national telecoms infrastructure and the engineers who build it (here<\/a>). Not all of these attacks are related to the complaints we’re covering today, but some has been.<\/p>\n

A Change of Approach<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The government has, thus far, been largely supportive of broadband and mobile operators in their UK deployments, which are in turn helping to deliver their coverage targets for digital infrastructure (Project Gigabit, the Shared Rural Network and so forth). In fact, a lot of this work wouldn’t be occurring without that support and the Government’s prior moves to cut red tape, which has helped to drive a massive programme of related infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Government knows there’s a General Election looming and, as similar complaints grow, politicians may increasingly feel a need to do more than merely play lip service to the issue. Suffice to say, there\u2019s a very difficult balancing act to be performed. But the first solid sign of a real change in approach appeared to come during yesterday’s Westminster “5G Mast: Greater Manchester<\/a>” debate in parliament.<\/p>\n

However, despite the title, the debate was much more focused upon broadband poles and the impact of IX Wireless’ (6G Internet) bespoke fixed wireless access masts in the area (these are much bigger than regular poles and nothing to do with 5G<\/a> or even 6G mobile). But the most interesting bit is what Julia Lopez, the government’s digital minister, said in response to all this.<\/p>\n

Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am trying to establish the extent of the problem. I know it is an issue in pockets of the country\u2014the number of Greater Manchester MPs here today is testimony to that. Although this debate is about a specific area, there is also a challenge in relation to the whole area. Reference was made to the private Member\u2019s Bill tabled by the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) and to specific issues with the way the market operates in the Kingston upon Hull area. It seems that there are also particular challenges in Greater Manchester with specific operators.<\/p>\n

I am holding a roundtable with colleagues next week, I believe, and I hope we will get a better sense of how geographically widespread this issue is, and whether we need to take action against particular providers or deal with specific issues on the ground, particularly in Hull. When I meet Ofcom<\/a> next week, I hope to discuss this issue in some detail.<\/p>\n

I will set out the general policy aim, and then the next steps that we will take to address communities\u2019 concerns. It is absolutely right that they are addressed, because this is not what we want to happen. There is an overall and well-supported policy aim on connectivity, and we do not want the broad support for the connectivity agenda to be undermined by bad practice. As the House knows, reliable, fast digital connectivity is vital for the prosperity of our country. We are working hard to ensure communities across the UK can get those services at prices they can afford.<\/p>\n

That is not just about connectivity needs now; increasingly, healthcare will be delivered in a technologically enabled way, more education will be provided in that way and so will economic opportunities. For me, it is important that we ensure every part of the country has fantastic connectivity. I do not want a digital divide to emerge.<\/p>\n

The hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton said that this issue is disempowering for communities, but that is precisely the opposite of our intention. The policy intention is to empower communities by ensuring they have the infrastructure they need. I do not want them to feel that this is leading to a deterioration of the overall amenity of their areas.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Julia also touched on the thorny issue of infrastructure sharing, which could help to reduce some of the disruption, and the minister appears keen to take a closer look at this issue. “The whole intention is for that roll-out to be done, not through new poles, new masts and all the rest\u2014notwithstanding the fact that they will be required in some areas\u2014but through much better sharing of existing infrastructure<\/em>,” said the minister.<\/p>\n

Ofcom already enables network operators to share Openreach<\/a>’s ducts and poles, such as to run new fibre cables, as part of a regulated product (Physical Infrastructure Access) that works reasonably well. But then you also have situations like the one in Hull, which we’ll cover below.<\/p>\n

The law does also require KCOM<\/a> to fairly share access to their existing infrastructure in Hull (ATI Regulations), but operators expecting the same level of access, flexibility and affordability as PIA from Openreach<\/a> have run into problems with KCOM<\/a>\u2019s confidential commercial terms. KCOM<\/a> do make all the right noises on this front, but it may take greater intervention from Ofcom to cause a significant shift (a usually very slow process).<\/p>\n

However, this becomes a much more complicated problem when you ask smaller and much more vulnerably alternative networks to do the same, due to issues (often legal ones) of balancing competition and investment. Several alternative networks (AltNets) have already banded together to find a solution (here<\/a>), but it’s presently unclear if they’ll be able to reach a productive agreement and how many operators may end up supporting it.<\/p>\n

As we\u2019ve said before, local authorities are limited in their powers to stop new poles, and the UK government knows it can’t impose any significant new restrictions without potentially damaging their coverage targets and thus billions of pounds worth of inward investment in new digital infrastructure. In that sense, we suspect that Julia Lopez may look to produce new guidance, within the current rules, to help combat “bad practice<\/em>“. But it remains to be seen whether that will have any teeth.<\/p>\n

Lest we also forget that quite a lot of people would still be happy to see poles if it meant they could access more affordable full fibre broadband, but such voices are often drowned out by vocal campaigners. On the other hand, there\u2019s a General Election looming and, as similar complaints grow, politicians clearly now feel they need to do more than merely play lip service to the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Government’s Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, has revealed that she will next week hold a roundtable with colleagues, as well as Ofcom, to discuss rising community complaints against the use of broadband poles and wireless masts to deliver digital infrastructure. But this time, some action may follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1645],"tags":[61,406,471,56,60,36,38,1997],"class_list":["post-37519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk_isp_news","category-key_uk_isp_industry_developments","tag-4g","tag-5g","tag-bduk","tag-fttp","tag-mobile-broadband","tag-ofcom-regulation","tag-politics","tag-uk-gigabit-programme"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ispreview\/112093818030123150","error":""},"yoast_head":"\nGov Ponders Action to Tackle Broadband Pole and 5G Mast Complaints - ISPreview UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UK Government's Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, has revealed that she will next week hold a roundtable with colleagues, as well as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/03\/gov-ponders-action-to-tackle-broadband-pole-and-5g-mast-complaints.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov Ponders Action to Tackle Broadband Pole and 5G Mast Complaints - 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