Mobile UK commissioned a report written by TYI, a cross-party grassroots pro-housing, pro-growth movement, called Small Changes, Big Rewards: Ensuring planning connects with mobile infrastructure ambitions. 

The report finds that modest amendments to planning policy and secondary legislation could unlock the full economic potential of 5G. Independent estimates suggest a complete UK 5G rollout could generate between £41 billion and £230 billion in economic value by 2035, and immediate return on investment of up to £2.5 billion.

Planning rules must evolve to keep pace with the technology the industry is already ready to deploy. Around 95% of the build programme in the short to medium term involves upgrading existing masts rather than building new ones, meaning small regulatory adjustments could significantly speed deployment while reducing administrative burdens on cash-strapped local authorities.

Small changes to planning policy can unlock transformative economic benefits at zero cost to the government. Unlike roads, rail, or fixed broadband, which are supported by tens of billions in public subsidy, including Project Gigabit and the Local Full Fibre Network, mobile connectivity is almost entirely privately funded. The reforms in this paper require only modest amendments to secondary legislation and planning policy, requiring no primary legislation, no new public expenditure, and minimal parliamentary time.

By aligning planning policy with 5G rollout goals, the Government can secure an immediate "win" for its growth mission, leveraging billions in pre-committed private investment at minimal cost to future-proof the UK’s connectivity.

The telecoms industry is a trusted partner. Operators have publicly signalled billions of pounds of investment by the end of the decade, to deliver nationwide coverage, and operate in one of the most competitive mobile markets in Europe. Real-terms monthly retail prices have fallen year after year. The industry has demonstrated its willingness to work constructively with national and local governments, through mast-sharing, sympathetic design, early engagement, and the Code of Practice, and its commitments are publicly benchmarked by Ofcom. What the industry asks is that planning policy keeps pace with the technology it is ready to deploy.

95% of the build programme in the short to medium term involves upgrading existing infrastructure, not erecting new masts. The changes sought are not about building anywhere and everywhere or eroding the powers of the planning system. They are about enabling operators to add antennas to existing masts, adjust width and height parameters to reflect the requirements of modern 5G equipment, and carry out routine upgrades within the existing footprint.

These are changes that free up local planning authority resources. As has been well documented throughout the planning and development landscape, local authorities are constrained by budgets and workload. These small changes would free up valuable time, cost, and resources for local planning authorities to focus on the priorities that matter most to their communities.

The Notice to Quit regime needs reform on two fronts: extending the emergency deployment window from 18 to 36 months so that operators have a more realistic prospect of replacing displaced infrastructure before communities notice an impact on network quality; and ensuring that developers check the impact of their schemes on existing networks before development proceeds, so that coverage is not needlessly knocked out in the first place.

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