United Kingdom: UK telecoms minister calls for infrastructure sharing

The UK's telecoms minister Chris Bryant has called for  infrastructure sharing amid increasing concern around the number of telegraph poles being installed across the country. He met with 15 operators last week to voice concerns about the deployment of the telegraph poles. This comes as the recently elected Labour government looks to "end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles."

"We want to support commercial investment, so we are ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework for the fixed and mobile (wireless) networks; we are undertaking a Mobile Market Review to understand the technological and structural changes taking place in the sector; and we are looking at how we can further reform planning regulations to remove barriers to infrastructure deployment," he said during a speech at last week's Connected Britain event.

He noted that the government plans to implement the remaining telecoms provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022. "And we will put additional momentum into flexible permitting for street works and supporting their implementation as early as possible," he added. "That said, I do want to ensure far greater cooperation between operators to prevent unnecessary telegraph pole deployment or street excavation."