§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps his Department has taken to monitor the incidence of mast sharing by mobile phone operators. [55207]
§ Ms KeebleThe Government's policy is firmly to encourage mast and site sharing where that is the optimum environmental solution. Planning Policy Guidance Note 8, "Telecommunications" provides guidance on this.
In addition, as part of the mobile phone industry's 10 commitments to improve the handling of telecommunications development, operators have pledged to publish clear, transparent and accountable criteria and cross-industry agreement on site sharing.
The industry sends site sharing statistics to the Department on a quarterly basis as part of this commitment. Latest figures show that, out of the current 10,416 sites that are capable of some form of mast/tower share, 3,669 sites have at least one sharer present. In addition, 2,713 applications for site share are pending.