DIGITAL Secretary Nicky Morgan last night pledged a radical overhaul of planning laws to make Britain’s countryside communities among the first to benefit from 5G internet.
She has also announced £30million will be given to ten tech firms to trial how the fifth generation of superfast internet can be installed across the UK’s countryside.
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Boris Johnson has said it is a disgrace that large swathes of the country’s rural communities missed out on 4G and pledged during the Tory leadership contest to rip-up planning laws to redress the injustice when it comes to 5G.
Ms Morgan has announced a consultation, which will look into overhauling planning laws in order to increase the permitted height of new masts and boost the strength of current masts in order to deliver better mobile coverage ready for 5G.
The Digital Secretary said last night: “The British countryside has always been a hotbed of pioneering industries and we’re making sure our rural communities aren’t left behind in the digital age.
“We’re investing millions so the whole country can grasp the opportunities and economic benefits of next-generation 5G technology.
“In modern Britain, people expect to be connected wherever they are. And so we’re committed to securing widespread mobile coverage and must make sure we have the right planning laws to give the UK the best infrastructure to stay ahead.”
Housing and Planning minister Esther McVey said: “We’re committed to delivering the homes people across the country need, and that includes delivering the right infrastructure such as broadband connectivity and good mobile coverage.
“There is nothing more frustrating than moving into your new home to find signal is poor.
“That’s why we are proposing to simplify planning rules for installing the latest mobile technology – helping to extend coverage and banish more of those signal blackspots, particularly for those living in rural areas.”
Meanwhile the Rural Connected Communities competition is aimed at helping stimulate investment in 5G and help countryside communities take advantage of the technology.
Similar schemes have already been set up in the Orkney Islands to remotely monitor salmon fisheries and improve the efficiency of wind farms, and in Shropshire, where 5G trials have been used to help the farming industry with targeted crop-spraying and soil analysis with drones and tractors.
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