Telcos Scolded For Unwanted Erection Of Utility Poles In Race To Wire Up Britain

The UK issue of multiplying telegraph poles is arising again, with telecoms minister Chris Bryant meeting operators over sharing their infrastructure and consulting residents before installation.

With the push to enable high-speed internet access across all corners of the country, telecoms companies have been laying out fiber like crazy, resulting in many opting for the quickest and easiest way of getting the infrastructure in place.

The anachronistically named telegraph pole or utility pole is regarded as being quicker, cheaper, and less disruptive to put in place than digging up the pavement to run cables underground, especially as planning permission is not generally required for this.

However, this has resulted in complaints from those who have had poles erected outside their property without any warning, as Bryant told a meeting of 15 of the UK's operators late last week.

The minister shared his view that many poles are installed in a way which is "not considerate to anyone's way of life," and where more than one operator installs poles, they are often "placed very close together" and carry "remarkably similar equipment," with the implication that companies could share infrastructure if they worked better together.

According to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), the operators present made a renewed commitment to better collaborate and share infrastructure, including poles, as well as consulting with residents more consistently and effectively.

The operators included the big players Openreach, Virgin Media O2, and KCom (formerly Kingston Communications) as well as smaller alternative providers, or alt-nets, such as CityFibre, MS-3, Brsk, and IX Wireless.

A spokesperson for Openreach told us that its infrastructure is already routinely shared by other operators.

Virgin Media O2, meanwhile, said: "We always use existing infrastructure such as ducts and poles, apart from in a handful of edge cases where this is not feasible, while working closely with Local Authorities and communities to minimise any disruption. Our ducts and poles are already available on a commercial basis and we're committed to working together with the industry to bring full fibre to more homes and businesses."

Bryant invited the companies last month, in a publicly available letter [PDF] in which he claimed some citizens were calling for the government to remove the permitted development rights for poles, and said the industry needs to address concerns people across the country have expressed to "recognise that unnecessary pole deployment is immensely frustrating for them."

The minister referred to efforts to reform the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice, but warned if this failed to address those public concerns to deliver greater infrastructure sharing and fewer unnecessary pole deployments, he would not hesitate to change the regulations or bring in legislative options to ensure "community concerns" are taken into account when deploying infrastructure.

The issue is obviously a hot one in Westminster, as ministers with the previous administration also got annoyed over the matter. Back in March, the former Data and Digital Infrastructure Minister wrote to operators over pretty much the same concerns.

Julia Lopez asked the telcos to do everything possible to share existing telegraph poles before proceeding to install new ones, and said MPs had received angry letters from constituents who felt they had no control over how infrastructure was deployed in their local area.

We asked DSIT why this particular issue was apparently being considered such a high priority by the department, but a spokesperson merely referred us to a list of bullet points summarizing the meeting with Bryant.

However, the matter is clearly a big concern for some residents, as can be seen by reports from around the country such as this one of residents attending local meetings to object to new telegraph poles planned in their area.

• Openreach pitches its tent as Ofcom preps review of broadband market rules
• BT chief blames regulations for UK lagging in next-gen network rollout
• Virgin Media sets up 'smart poles' next to cabinets to boost mobile network capacity
• UK minister tells telcos to share telegraph poles if they can't lay cable underground

We reported earlier this year of telecoms operators calling on the government to help protect against a growing number of physical attacks against fiber infrastructure, which have resulted in entire streets or communities being cut off until the damage is repaired.

The motives for these attacks were thought to be vandalism or people with a grudge against a particular provider, but could equally be residents venting their anger at infrastructure being installed without local consultation.

Openreach recently claimed that its own network of poles and ducts has been open for other network providers to access for many years and called on government to require other telecoms operators to do the same as part of a planned review of regulations.

Commenting on the previous time DSIT raised this issue, CCS Insight director of Consumer and Connectivity Kester Mann told us it "highlights the tricky balance between building out telecom infrastructure to improve connectivity and preserving the aesthetics of a particular area or community."

The new government, and DSIT in particular, may have to decide whether it wants to continue to prioritize the speedy rollout of fiber networks across the country, or to insist operators allow for greater involvement with residents when deploying infrastructure, which would likely slow the process down considerably. ®

Bootnote

Not everyone is offended by the sight of telegraph poles, as evidenced by the website of The Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society, lifetime membership of which is a snip at £9.99 (about $13).