Solutions for slow gigabit roll-out ‘rooted in property’
The real estate industry has been urged to step up and help the UK’s lagging 5G roll-out.
The country’s slow introduction of gigabit broadband and 5G could hold back investment and the levelling-up agenda, according to research from Cluttons.
The property consultancy’s “Connecting the UK” report, produced alongside YouGov, surveyed more than 100 MPs, some 2,000 consumers, 550 local councillors and over 100 IT executives. The report revealed a lack of confidence and understanding in the government’s roll-out strategy, with just a third of MPs confident in meeting the target of 85% coverage by 2025.
The real estate industry has been urged to step up and help the UK’s lagging 5G roll-out.
The country’s slow introduction of gigabit broadband and 5G could hold back investment and the levelling-up agenda, according to research from Cluttons.
The property consultancy’s “Connecting the UK” report, produced alongside YouGov, surveyed more than 100 MPs, some 2,000 consumers, 550 local councillors and over 100 IT executives. The report revealed a lack of confidence and understanding in the government’s roll-out strategy, with just a third of MPs confident in meeting the target of 85% coverage by 2025.
Among the challenges highlighted was the planning system. Two-thirds of MPs said planning reforms were important to achieving targets, with “community objection” being the issue most often cited by councillors when discussing what has held back telecommunications infrastructure.
John Gravett, partner at Cluttons, said objections to infrastructure developments suggest residents have “outdated ideas about infrastructure impacting their local community”.
“This is something we must collectively address via both education and planning reforms,” he said. “We as a property industry also need to work together with local authorities and mobile and fixed-line operators to ensure better collaboration over the acquisition of sites and use of land to develop this infrastructure.”
Gravett added: “While our research shows that there are many challenges affecting the roll-out of 5G and gigabit in the UK, in reality many of the solutions are rooted in property and, if we work collaboratively, together we can find the right solutions such as facilitation of negotiations, planning reforms and education so that people understand that the development of infrastructure is critical to better network speeds.”
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