The UK’s mobile infrastructure industry is being asked to do more than ever: support 5G, accommodate growing data demand and provide the connectivity that businesses, public services and customers increasingly depend on.
But while the technology is moving quickly, the process of getting infrastructure built, upgraded and replaced can still be painfully slow.
For Belinda Fawcett, Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs at Cornerstone, one of the biggest problems is that the infrastructure itself is still too often treated as an afterthought.
“One of the biggest problems we have as an industry is the lack of awareness of the very critical role that this infrastructure plays,” she tells Mobile Europe.
Fawcett has spent much of her career in telecoms and infrastructure. She joined Cornerstone in 2015, joining from Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) and Three, and has seen the industry change considerably during that time.
The pace of change of the industry, she says, has been relentless. “It’s a very, very dynamic industry. The sheer pace of change is huge,” she explains.
The problem is that some of the systems around the industry have struggled to keep up.
When development means losing connectivity
One of the examples Fawcett gives is property development.
A building is demolished or substantially redeveloped, and, in the process, an existing mobile site can disappear. Finding somewhere else to put the equipment is not necessarily quick or straightforward, she explains.
“We lose sites and, sometimes, finding those alternative sites can actually take up to two, three, even up to seven years to find a replacement site,” Fawcett says.
That creates a problem for an industry that is simultaneously being asked to increase network capacity and improve coverage. Instead of all investment going towards expanding the network, some of it is effectively being spent maintaining the status quo.
“We spend millions just standing still,” she says. As a result, she is adamant that the property industry and telecoms sector needing to have a much earlier conversation.
“A development that removes an existing mobile site can have consequences beyond the building itself. If several operators are using the location, finding an alternative can become a much bigger network-planning exercise,” she says.
Can planning keep up with 5G
The issue becomes even more important as the UK pursues its 5G ambitions.
The infrastructure industry is willing to invest, but deployment depends on much more than capital.
Sites need to be identified, land secured, planning applications approved and power and fibre made available, Fawcett explains.
However, she is not alone, recently, VodafoneThree’s Chief Networks Officer and Network Director, Andrea Donà told Mobile Europe, the company has £11 billion to invest in its network but needs government help to get that money working faster.
Fawcett believes the government needs to recognise that reality.
“They won’t hit it unless they do something radical to help us do it,” she notes.
According to Fawcett, digital infrastructure should be treated in the same way as other infrastructure that underpins economic activity.
“The UK government needs to come out and recognise the importance of it. It is critical national infrastructure, not something that can just be skirted around,” she emphasises.
That position is increasingly reflected in Cornerstone’s own policy work. The company has been pushing for planning reform, greater support for local planning authorities and digital connectivity to be integrated into development processes.
More recently, Cornerstone has described mobile connectivity as “core and critical national infrastructure”, arguing that planning reform and deployment efficiency will be increasingly important as the UK moves into the next phase of 5G.
Small changes = big impact
Fawcett believes one regulatory change will not fix everything, however, here are areas where relatively small changes could make deployment considerably easier.
Permitted development rights are one example.
“Permitted development rights are one area where extending the height of masts from perhaps 15 to 20 metres would make a huge difference,” she says.
For infrastructure providers, making it easier to modify existing structures could help increase capacity without requiring an entirely new site.
That becomes particularly important as networks densify and demand increases. The same principle applies when property is redeveloped, Fawcett says.
AI will increase the pressure on networks
The infrastructure debate is also moving beyond 5G. AI, IoT and other connected technologies are likely to increase demand for reliable networks.
As more business processes and services become digitally dependent, the cost of poor connectivity becomes harder to ignore.
“We are going to have to rely on mobile infrastructure even more heavily,” Fawcett says.
“We need to see the government coming out and saying, like, this is critical national infrastructure. It has to be protected.”
Protection, however, does not mean standing still. The network needs to evolve as demand changes, which means infrastructure providers need the ability to upgrade existing sites and add new infrastructure where it is needed.
“We can’t be polarised anymore. We all need to take responsibility for delivering this critical national infrastructure,” she concludes.
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