The Government wants broadband firms to scale back the use of telegraph poles when installing new full-fibre connections.
Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez has urged network operators like BT’s Openreach and Virgin Media O2 to do “everything possible” to share existing equipment or use underground cables before erecting poles – some of which are 30-feet high.
The rapid rollout of new full-fibre networks since 2019 has led to more telegraph poles being used. It’s cheaper and easier to put these up than to lay cables underground. However, it has led to growing complaints from residents who say poles make their local area look ugly.
In January, MPs for Hull and East Yorkshire met with executives at local broadband firm KCOM to highlight the impact on communities.
Sir David Davis, Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, said residents felt like they are “simply being swept aside by companies doing what best suits them”.
Dame Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, said “unwanted telegraph poles have been cluttering Hull streets, appearing in often inappropriate places and without consultation”.
There have also been protests in Fife, Peterlee, Plymouth, Southampton, Southport and Totnes (see box below left).
As well as objecting to their appearance, residents have complained about potential damage to poles from storms. They also claim they weren’t fully consulted before the work was done.
Planning rules were relaxed in 2017 so that broadband firms don’t have to get approval from local councils for either the equipment they install or where they plan to put it.
Current laws force companies to share infrastructure where possible, and BT must let rivals use its ducts and poles to build their own networks.
Ms Lopez said that Ofcom could take action against companies if they failed to comply with these regulations.
In her letter to broadband firms Lopez said that poles should only be erected where it wasn’t “reasonably practical” to install underground lines (see www.snipca.com/49750).
She warned that companies risk losing “vital community support” if they put up poles unnecessarily. Companies must also ensure the infrastructure would not obstruct traffic or “unduly impact the visual amenity of the local area”.
Around 80 per cent of the UK is now covered by full-fibre broadband, up from just six per cent in 2019. The Go
