The Electronic Communications Code – What is it and why is it so important to mobile deployment?

A blog produced by Mobile Uk

Most of us will rarely consider the physical infrastructure that provides the invisible connections that make it possible to make calls, receive emails, update our bank accounts or keep up with social media. Yet these structures on which we have become dependent in the 21st century are complex, expensive and challenging to deploy.

The UK’s mobile network operators invest £2 billion each year, extending, enhancing and adding capacity to keep up with our increasing data needs; since 2011, that data demand has increased twentyfold. In addition, in 2020, the mobile companies committed to extending 4G coverage to 95% of the UK’s landmass while also rolling out next-generation 5G networks.

Therefore, it is important that the legal framework surrounding the national network rollout properly supports this process while respecting the rights of landowners and enabling mobile operators to deploy equipment quickly, simply and cost-effectively, especially in rural areas which are often more topographically difficult, have less population density, and challenging economics. This is the role of the Electronic Communications Code.

The Code was originally enacted in 1981 but was reformed in 2017 to reflect that the UK’s mobile services are now part of the nation’s critical infrastructure, on a similar footing to our roads and energy networks, and no longer simply a luxury item. One of the goals of reform was to reduce the escalating cost of accessing land, which had become unsustainable and was holding back the provision of extra coverage and capacity.

The problem is that the Code, in its current form, is not working. In the face of stiff resistance from a small number of landowners and agents, who are finding loopholes within the process, the Code is not functioning as intended. This poses a major risk to the operators’ ability to deliver extra coverage and to build out the 5G networks that our economy requires to sustain growth and remain competitive. According to the Centre for Policy Studies, if the delay to the delivery of 5G alone continues at its current rate, over 11 million households and businesses could be missing out on advanced mobile services by 2028.

These delays will also have a detrimental effect on national ambitions to extend mobile coverage, level up the country, reduce digital poverty and risks adding to the cost of living crisis. In its recent review, Ofcom reiterated that customers in the UK  enjoy some of the lowest mobile prices, in comparison with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA, and that prices have fallen, even though the volume of data consumed has grown many times – customers have been getting more for less. But Ofcom also expressed concerns about the risk of rising prices, driven by the cost pressures on the networks. The Code exists to ensure that infrastructure costs, and in particular rents, are sustainable and based on the principles of providing an essential service.

While the Code has reduced the rents that landlords can charge, it does so based on delivering connectivity, a service that we rely. The payments are designed to give a fair consideration for any land that is used. The Code is actively intended to prevent the extraction of premiums or ransom rents, even if such rents also contribute to public services, sports clubs, and other amenities. The connectivity provided by the mobile operators is consumed not only by the site provider but also by the community. Blocking the construction of masts denies not only the landowner of connectivity but also connectivity to any businesses, residents, and communities who are within range. Often one mast in a rural area can provide signal to a whole town or village.

The Code is designed to promote infrastructure investment and to extend coverage and capacity across the whole of the UK. The pandemic has shown the importance of connectivity as people’s working practices have changed. With the advent of 5G we expect to see even more reliance on mobile networks as manufacturers will begin to adopt industry 4.0 technologies, agriculture will lean on agritech such as drones and autonomous farm vehicles, tourism will become both a physical and digital experience as people find ever more inventive ways to explore our world, while our emergency services will utilise enhanced mobile connectivity to save lives.

This is why the Bill, currently within Parliament, is vital to making the Code work effectively and keeping the cost of accessing land sustainable, thereby helping to ensure services remain affordable for all. Otherwise, the UK risks failing to reduce digital poverty and risks failing to spread prosperity more evenly across the UK, as the Government has so recently committed.