New proposals to help ease deployment of telecoms infrastructure

21 Apr 2021 11:22 AM

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have jointly published a new technical consultation on proposed reforms to permitted development rights in England.

The announcement states that the consultation will boost ongoing efforts to improve connectivity for people who live, work and travel in rural areas, by reducing build time and costs for new infrastructure while protecting rural areas by minimising any visual impact.

Under the proposals, mobile operators will be allowed to make new and existing masts up to five metres taller and two metres wider than current rules permit. This will increase the range of masts and allow operators to fit more equipment on them so they can be more easily shared— benefits could also include delivery of the Shared Rural Network (4G) and accelerating the rollout of 5G. Stricter rules will apply in protected areas, including national parks, the Broads, conservation areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty and world heritage sites, and aim to encourage the upgrade of existing sites, over building new masts. 

The plans also include proposals to bring better mobile coverage for road users by allowing building-based masts to be placed nearer to highways.

DCMS will also lead on a new code of practice for mobile network operators, which will provide updated guidance on how operators and local authorities can work together to build communications infrastructure the country needs. It will also contain best practice for the siting of new infrastructure, particularly in protected areas, and ensuring stakeholders are properly consulted. 

Changes to permitted development rights for electronic communications infrastructure: technical consultation

The consultation will run for eight weeks and closes on 14 June 2021 — It seeks views on reforms to permitted development rights in England:

• Existing mobile masts to be strengthened without prior approval, so that they can be upgraded for 5G and shared between mobile operators. This would allow increases to the width of existing masts by up to either 50% or two metres (whichever is greatest), and in unprotected areas allow increases in height up to a maximum of 25 metres (previously 20 metres). Greater increases will also be permitted subject to approval by the local authority.
• New masts to be built up to five metres higher - meaning a maximum of 30 metres in unprotected areas and 25 metres in protected areas, subject to approval by the planning authority.
• Greater freedoms for slimline ‘monopole’ masts up to 15 metres in height, which are less visually intrusive than standard masts and used for 5G rollout, in unprotected areas. This could mean operators notifying local authorities of their intention to proceed without needing prior approval. This would align it with current rights that telecoms operators have for telegraph poles.
• Building-based masts to be placed nearer to highways to bring better mobile coverage to road networks, subject to prior approval, and in unprotected areas smaller building-based masts to be permitted without prior approval.
• Cabinets containing radio equipment to be deployed alongside masts without prior approval and to allow greater flexibility for installing cabinets in existing compounds - fenced-off sites containing masts and other communications equipment - to support new 5G networks.