Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Paragraph: 118
Judging by the legislative measures to date, the scale of the Government’s efforts to tackle...
Recommendation
Judging by the legislative measures to date, the scale of the Government’s efforts to tackle the most serious barriers to roll-out does not match the scale of its ambition for gigabit connectivity. Despite the challenges of the 2025 target, the Government intends to “wait and see” about complex problems such as third-party access instead of addressing them as a matter of priority. We recommend that the Government reforms the wayleave regime for telecommunications infrastructure in the next Parliamentary session to address unresponsive and/or uncooperative landlords in urban and rural settings, including third-party land.
Paragraph Reference:
118
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Rights for telecommunications infrastructure to be installed on public and private land are regulated by the Electronic Communications Code. The Code’s purpose is to facilitate the deployment, maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s digital networks at pace. However, where this activity interferes with individual property rights, an appropriate balance must be maintained between those individual rights and the wider public interest. The Code aims to achieve that balance. Any changes in the rights available to telecommunications operators can only be introduced through changes to primary legislation. Following extensive stakeholder engagement, substantial reforms to the Code were introduced in 2017. The purpose of those reforms was to make it cheaper and easier for telecoms apparatus to be installed, maintained and upgraded. The extent of these changes meant it was important that sufficient time was allowed for all stakeholders to adapt to the new legislative framework before further interventions were considered. DCMS has engaged extensively with industry stakeholders and site provider representatives to understand the impact of the 2017 reforms and to identify remaining barriers. Government has demonstrated its willingness to legislate where necessary to tackle those barriers. For example, operators provided clear evidence of challenges connecting multi-dwelling units (blocks of flats) due to unresponsive landowners. This led to the Government bringing forward the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill, which will directly tackle these issues, and will shortly receive Royal Assent. Government is currently consulting on whether further changes to the Code are needed to support delivery of its coverage and connectivity ambitions. We will carefully evaluate all responses and evidence submitted through that consultation, including any evidence demonstrating that additional measures to tackle non-responsive or uncooperative landlords, including owners of third party land, are necessary and would be in the wider public interest. Furthermore, through the work of DCMS’s Barrier Busting taskforce, we continue to engage with streetworks authorities across the UK to facilitate the use of innovative permitting and deployment techniques, such as the flexi-permit streetworks trial in Sheffield and micro-trenching, in order to significantly increase the productivity of telecoms workers.