Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a register of mobile sites and their legal status to monitor telecoms masts at risk of removal after a site provider serves a notice to quit.

The Government wants operators to work collaboratively with site providers to reach agreements for siting mobile infrastructure. Masts may be removed or relocated for a range of reasons, and this is a commercial matter for the parties involved. The Department does not track the number of mobile masts that are removed. however, we engage regularly with mobile operators to understand the challenges they face in redeploying equipment following Notices to Quit.

We recognise operators’ concerns about the impact of Notices to Quit on the deployment of mobile infrastructure as operators search for alternative sites to host equipment. To help mitigate impacts on local coverage and capacity, the Government’s recent Call for Evidence on planning reform proposed extending the period during which equipment can be deployed on an emergency basis without planning permission from 18 to 36 months. This would allow operators to maintain local connectivity while they identify and deploy to permanent sites. We are considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will determine next steps in due course.

Sections 61 to 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, relating to the renewal of certain telecoms site rental agreements, came into force on 7 April 2026. These measures will bring greater consistency in how land used for telecommunications purposes is valued.