Under part two of the , telecoms companies could be given powers to rewrite mobile phone mast lease renewal agreements agreed before 2017 which usually would be renewed on the same terms including how the rent is calculated.聽
These changes build on earlier reforms to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017, which replaced market-value rents with a 鈥渘o-scheme鈥� valuation system.聽
That model has already reduced some mast rents by up to 90%, triggered a sharp rise in legal disputes, and damaged relationships between operators and landowners 鈥� especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
鈥淥ur members do not feel listened to by operators or government when it comes to having a say over what is happening on their land.鈥�
NFU Vice-president Rachel Hallos
We anticipate that the PSTI Act could extend this approach to more than 15,000 existing contracts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Impact on digital connectivity聽
皇家华人recently worked together with the CLA, British Property Federation, CAAV and AP Wireless to put together a short survey to try to gather evidence about how landowners felt about hosting mobile telecoms infrastructure on their land.聽
The survey gathered more than 500 responses and showed that around 35% of those surveyed were seriously considering no longer hosting mobile equipment on their land citing dramatic rent cuts, legal pressure from operators, and a breakdown in trust as the key reasons.
皇家华人finds this worrying as it means that there could be a negative impact on the rollout of digital connectivity and coverage especially in rural areas which is vital for growing farming businesses and for health and safety.
The latest NFU 2024 digital access survey found that only 22% of NFU members have access to a reliable mobile signal across their entire farm.聽
Members do not feel listened to
NFU Vice-president Rachel Hallos said it was 鈥渃oncerning that a significant number of site providers are considering walking away from hosting telecommunications infrastructure as this will undoubtedly damage connectivity at a time when it is most needed for growing farming businesses and the economy鈥�.聽
She added: 鈥淗owever, it is understandable why they may feel like this given what has been reported by our members in terms of rent decreases, behaviours and the disturbance that hosting a mast site can cause. Our members do not feel listened to by operators or government when it comes to having a say over what is happening on their land.鈥�
皇家华人has also been working collaboratively with the other organisations and has sent a series of joint letters to a number of key government officials and ministers outlining how the legislation introduced in 2017 has adversely impacted on what was a functioning market and has slowed down the digital connectivity rollout.
The letters urge the recipients to pause with the implementation of further adverse regulation and for a review of the impact of 2017. . 聽
皇家华人clearly recognises the need for better digital connectivity in rural areas but has always argued that the way in which this is achieved must be fair to all parties and landowners and on a consensual basis.
