Installation of Electronic Comms equipment Notice

[Robert]

A notice has been posted near to my house notifying the owners of land,
which includes my driveway and garden, that in line with Schedule 3A of
the Telecomms Act 2003 that a Fibre Network company intends to "install
communications equipment on the land".

The notice gives me 28 days to contact their agent to "indicate whether
you are prepared to enter into a written agreement under the Code"
It then says " If you take no action ....Networks will carry out the
works to install ...the equipment"

My understanding is that the operator needs written permission from the
landowner to install the equipment but that if that is not forthcoming
it needs to go to Court/Tribunal to obtain this.

I did not think it has the right , at least for residential gardens, to
just go ahead and install the equipment if the landowner fails to make
contact within 28 days.

Am I correct in this interpretation of Schedule 3A ?

None of this may be an issue as it could just be installing a new duct
to an existing telecoms pole, but they be wanting to install a new or
additional pole which could cause access issues for several properties.

I am not sure why they have not made direct contact with the householder
affected , the land is defined in the format of "land to the rear of
##,##,## Any Street, Anytown." and is clearly shown on the Land Registry
Maps.

[Roger Hayter]

Ofcom's Telecommunitations Code 2017 would seem to confirm that this remains
the case.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/policy/electronic-comm-code

However, unless there is a good reason to object to the plan, opposing it is
likely to be both expensive and unsuccessful. Also, it may not take them very
long to get a court hearing.


In practice, negotiation to avoid problems is likely to be more useful.

--

Roger Hayter

[David]

A bit of a mess if you happen to be away on holiday for more than 28 days,
I would have thought.

Say 6 weeks in Portugal over the winter, or 6 weeks in Scotland in a Motor
Home over summer, or even on a cruise.

Very easy to speculate on all sorts of reasons to be away from your
residence for more than 28 days.

It all seems very dubious.

Cheers



Dave R



--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

[Roger Hayter]

If the law had not been so, the painfully slow connection of the whole country
to the PSTN by the GPO over a century of so would have taken several millennia
where every yard of wire and every pole was disputed and negotiated.


--
Roger Hayter

[Brian]

Being pedantic, is it certain they intend to install equipment on your land
or simply near it?

I suspect the devil is in the detail.

For example.

The phone lines etc in our road are on poles. I suspect they were installed
long before many of the houses were built. Certainly before ours by
decades. Open Reach have made various changes - fibre etc- all without any
consultation ( not that I object). The poles run down the edge of the road,
possibly in an area which was originally not in peoples gardens, but over
the years fences have moved etc. Some years back ( 20?) a previous
neighbour who had a pole in an inconvenient place, requested it to be
moved. This was done. I don’t know who paid. (We don’t have one, although
it is now on our boundary, not that we mind.)

Obviously, there are various wires / fibre optic cables to the properties
which go from the poles. I’ve never heard of anyone objecting.

Oddly, even though the power lines are overhead, the suppliers to the
houses aren’t, at least in most cases.

Nor are there any service boxes in the road. Or, if there are, they are
VERY well hidden.

[Robert]

Have eventually made contact.
They posted a Notice nearby as some of the land affected was Not
Registered. This is correct one of the houses and land has not changed
hands for a long time.
They are considering putting a service box underground in the access
lane which is actually owned at that point by the unregistered property.

The Fibre company view, probably correct,was that if the land was not
registered they did not to have permission to do this once notice had
been given.
Dont think there will actually be any problems as long as they dont hit
any of the drains etc. or close the access lane for too long.