The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped society and the economy.The way people and businesses will work, travel and meet is unlikely to befully reversed. Policy must reflect this and in particular reform to theplanning system is required imminently if the economy is to rebound based on world-class connectivity.

There has been a step-change in the use of digital infrastructure.The most visible immediate impact of COVID-19 and the associated lockdown on the mobile sector has been the very rapid acceleration of patterns of usage and behaviour that have been emerging over many years, most notably:

•        Increased working from home;

•        Increased online shopping/home delivery;

•        Increased consumption of online entertainment; and

•        Increased use ofvideo-conferencing platforms for work and consumer use, including NHS and other vital services.

This undoubtedly presents unexpected opportunities to realise more quickly long-held ambitions in some significant policy areas, such as getting to net-zero carbon emissions, better work/life balance, more accessible services for disabled customers and rebalancing the economy into the regions.

As a result, digital infrastructure will become much more central to our national life. The digital economy will be the engine of growth to lead the revival of the broader UK economy.

Policy must now reflect this and pivot towards digital infrastructure and one area where urgent action needs to be taken is on planning reform across the UK. More specifically, reform of Permitted Development Rights for mobile infrastructure.

Mobile UK has produced the following explainer video which outlines the changes that the industry is seeking and what these changes will mean for mobile infrastructure deployment. However, as importantly the video also outlines what these reforms will not do and why they ensure accountability is retained at a local level and how changes will help minimise the impact of mobile infrastructure.

To view the video please view below or click here:

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