Speed Up Britain, the cross-industry, non-partisan organisation campaigning for better mobile connectivity in every part of the UK, and MBNL, a founding member of the campaign, welcome the Government’s announcement that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will begin a consultation on potential changes to the 2017 Electronic Communications Code (“the Code”). This demonstrates the government’s commitment to improving connectivity in the UK and ensuring that the Code is fit for purpose in order to deliver its digital connectivity targets. The Code, introduced to regulate the relationship between network operators and site providers who host the network equipment, is not working as intended. Disagreements and lengthy legal proceedings over the set of rights designed to facilitate the installation and maintenance of electronic communications networks is slowing down the process of mobile network build-out needed to rollout 4G and 5G technology across the country. A recent report by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), supported by Speed Up Britain, points out that targeted amendments to the Code could speed up 5G rollout and provide a £41 billion boost to the UK economy by 2027. Enhanced connectivity is fundamental to the UK’s COVID-19 recovery and reforming the Code is one of the key enablers.
Read Mobile UK’s press release for more details