Electronic Communications Code - no premium rate for landlords

The EG has published a summary discussion in the EG Studio between representatives of the property industry and the telecoms industry to explore the reasons for the recent hostility between the two.  The number of landowners willing to agree to have infrastructure on their land has fallen substantially since the introduction of the new Electronic Communications Code in December 2017.

Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (CTIL) operates the radio mast infrastructure (as a joint venture between Telefónica - which trades in the UK as "O2" - and Vodafone). CTIL has been very active in the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) seeking orders allowing it to survey sites, install and operate electronic communications equipment on land against the occupier's wishes. It has had a considerable run of success, only losing a recent case (CTIL v Compton Beauchamp Estates Limited [2019] UKUT 0107 (LC)) on the question of the "occupier" of the site (which at the time was Vodafone, not the land-owner).  In that case, CTIL offered the landlord £26 for the 10 year term (i.e. £2.60 per year - yes, £2.60 per year) for the mast site using freehold agricultural values adjusted to achieve a rental figure.

Essentially, the problem is that having code-protected infrastructure on one's land makes it difficult to redevelop and has a consequential impact on the value of the land. However, the payments offered by telecoms providers (applying paragraph 24 of the Code) are calculated as if the rights were not for telecoms equipment. Anecdotal evidence suggests a fall of over 90% in the payments being offered to land-owners compared to deals done under the pre-December 2017 code.

That universally applicable law - the law of unintended consequences - means that the telecoms companies now have a fight on their hands for almost every new mast site.