§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what appraisal was undertaken of the environmental impacts of granting licences for the development of third generation communications technology; and if she will publish it. [3866]
§ Mr. Alexander[holding answer 17 July 2001]Installations are subject to planning law which deals with environmental considerations as it applies to Public Telecommunications Operators.
Government strongly encourage the sharing of masts and sites in order to minimise environmental impact and operators must show that they have considered sharing options as part of the planning process in order to minimise the environmental impact of networks.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many additional telecommunications masts she estimates will be needed in(a) urban and (b) rural areas for the effective development of third generation telecommunications technology. [3865]
§ Mr. Alexander[holding answer 17 July 2001]The number of additional telecommunications masts that will be needed for the effective development of third generation mobile communications will depend on commercial decisions by the network operators on how they configure and roll out their networks.
The Information Memorandum for the third generation mobile auction sets out the means by which the Government strongly encourage mobile telecommunications network operators to share masts and sites, in order to minimise the environmental impact of networks.