Planning changes needed to speed up 4G

The Government must streamline the planning process for new telecoms infrastructure to boost rural businesses and safeguard farmers and their workers, the National Farmers’ Union said yesterday.

The NFU has written to the Communities & Local Government and Culture, Media & Sport departments calling for changes to planning rules to speed up the roll-out of 4G mobile broadband and improve mobile phone services.

The Union’s chief rural affairs adviser, David Collier, says: “One in fifty people in rural areas cannot get a mobile phone signal from any operator, a problem that is unheard of in major urban areas.

“Farms and other rural businesses also stand to benefit from 4G mobile broadband and improvements to 3G, but only if the infrastructure can be erected or extended as needed without undue delay.”