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Mobile phone networks need a large number of base stations or masts to provide good coverage for customers. Without a signal from a mast, mobile phones and other mobile devices won’t work. And the mast must be situated reasonably nearby. A mobile phone mast is low-powered and the coverage it can provide is limited – possibly only a radius of half a mile in a built up area.
Our network is made up of more than 13,600 radio base stations that receive and transmit calls and data across the UK. We built 649 new base stations during 2010/11 and 133 old base stations were decommissioned.
We aim to share base station sites with other network operators where possible. This makes good environmental and commercial sense. It reduces the environmental and visual impact of our network and the cost of building new sites. Sharing in this way sometimes makes the mast marginally taller but it does mean we don’t need to build a second site in the same area.
We reviewed our planning and consultation processes to make sure that our site sharers are meeting our standards on the environment, community consultation and health and safety. We talk to the relevant authorities and, if appropriate, to local residents when we need to build a new site. If they are worried about potential health effects, we can guide them to independent information. If they are worried about the location or the visual impact of a mast, we will try to reach a compromise where possible. Unfortunately, moving the site of a mast doesn’t always solve the problem. It might mean other residents in the new location are concerned, but we will always consider other options put to us.
We always follow recognised best-practice principles. These include the UK Government’s Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development in England and Wales and the Ten Commitments to Best Siting Practice. Every year we provide each local planning authority with details of existing and planned base stations in their areas for the coming year.
Planning compliance
If a local planning authority feels that a development is in breach of planning laws, they may issue an enforcement notice and require us to take action. We received one planning enforcement notice in 2010/11 which concerned painting the mast in the required colour.
