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Out-Law News 3 min. read

Government to strip away planning 'red tape' to help deliver on fastest broadband pledge


Telecoms firms will be able to install overhead broadband lines anywhere without having to obtain planning permission to do so under new Government plans.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the Government would remove existing "red tape" that places restrictions on the installation of overhead lines, as well as other "unnecessary bureaucracy in the planning system", in order to help improve the UK's broadband infrastructure. The Government has set the target of the UK boasting the fastest broadband services in Europe by 2015.

DCMS said that telecoms firms would not need the approval of local communities in order to install new overhead broadband lines, but said it would encourage the companies to enter into a dialogue with those communities "on the siting of overhead lines as a matter of good practice".

The Government will also ensure that telecoms companies can install "broadband street cabinets" in any location, without the need for local council approval and without construction or design conditions being imposed other than in select circumstances. Under the changes, firms will also be able to install a fibre optics network under or on private land without having to go through a period of protracted negotiations with land owners, DCMS said.

The Department said that it could use existing powers to remove the planning law restrictions or introduce new legislation to implement the changes.

Telecoms law expert Graham Halsall of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the Government's plans would, generally, be welcomed by those in the communications industry. However, he said that the plans are long overdue and may not be sufficiently targeted to address mobile infrastructure needs.

"This is the latest example of the Government trying to cut down red tape in the planning process and, on the whole, it will be met with approval amongst communications providers," he said. "However, the plans will be looked upon as overdue and there are questions over whether the measures go far enough."

"The Government's plans are predominantly aimed at improving broadband infrastructure, but they contain only fleeting mention of plans to help improve mobile infrastructure," Halsall said. "The proposed changes do not address the reality that internet users are increasingly accessing the internet via mobile devices. Not only is internet usage increasing, but the needs of the users are changing and I wonder whether the Government's plans are ambitious enough to keep pace with such a fast moving industry. Therefore, on this occasion, mobile operators may feel like they have been forgotten about." 

Included in its package of measures DCMS also said that it did not want "traffic regulation" to hold up the installation of new broadband infrastructure. The Government will try to facilitate a deal between telecoms firms and highway authorities to avoid such an outcome, it said.

Amongst the other initiatives that are planned, the Government said it would seek to make it easier for mobile infrastructure to be more quickly deployed by working with mobile operators, local Government and others to achieve this. It added that it would "facilitate discussions" between providers of broadband infrastructure, power companies and the energy regulator Ofgem in a bid to "develop a standardised national power supply contract for broadband infrastructure."

Newly-appointed Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: "Superfast broadband is vital to secure our country’s future – to kick start economic growth and create jobs. We are putting in the essential infrastructure that will make UK businesses competitive, and sweeping away the red tape that is a barrier to economic recovery."

However, the Government's plans were criticised by the Local Government Association (LGA). It said that the "real barrier to broadband roll out" was that the Government does not have the permission of the European Commission to spend the £530 million it has allocated to help deliver superfast broadband to rural areas.

"In the absence of state aid clearance there is no superfast broadband programme and resolving this blockage must be the main focus for Government," the LGA said in a statement.

The LGA also said that it was wrong for the Government to "take the right away from people o have a say over six-foot high junction boxes outside their windows and gardens or poles and wires festooning their streets". In addition it said that rushing through "unnecessary road works" in order for telecoms firms to lay cables could lead to an increased bill for road repairs for tax payers.

"Residents expect councils to protect their homes and make neighbourhoods nice places to live, and planning regulations exist to do just that," the LGA said. "The drive to meet broadband targets shouldn’t force poorly thought out knee-jerk measures that spoil local environments and needlessly damage roads. Government needs to encourage providers to work together to make better use of existing ducts and poles, rather than duplicating infrastructure."

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