Top Tips for Landowners and the Electronic Communications Code
Do EE, Virgin Media and companies alike have rights on my land? Top tips for landowners and the Electronic Communications Code.
The 1984 Telecommunications Act was brought about to regulate landline telephony and the relationship between operators and landowners, this Act was reviewed by the Law Commission in 2013 and in 2017 a new code, Digital Economy Act 2017 (the Act), was brought into force.
The Act provides electronic communications operators (‘’Operators’’) statutory rights with regards to installing equipment and infrastructure on land.
These rights are only available to Operators that are OFCOM registered, such as EE and Virgin Media.
The rights can be acquired by written agreement with the ‘Relevant Occupier’ (being the landowner or occupier of the land) or by an imposed court order.
For a court to impose an agreement, the Operator must have given the Relevant Occupier written notice to confer with a right within the Act, if the Relevant Occupier does not agree within 28 days, the Operator can apply for an order imposing the agreement.
The courts are likely to make an order if the following conditions have been met:
- The prejudice caused to the relevant person can be adequately compensated by money.
- The public benefit likely to result from the order outweighs the prejudice to the relevant person. In considering this, the court must have regard to the public interest in having a choice of high-quality electronic communications services.
If an agreement is imposed, the Operator will be able to exercise certain rights over the land, such as the right to install, repair and maintain apparatus installed on or under the land and to share the use of the apparatus with another operators.
Once these agreements have been entered into or imposed, these rights will bind future successors in title and any parties that have an interest in the land, such as occupational Tenants. It is also worth noting that these rights do not need to be registered with the HM Land Registry to bind.
In addition to rights imposed by entering into such agreements or imposed (as the case may be) there are also provisions within the code setting out the procedures for termination of the agreements and removal of apparatus which involves notice being provided.
Landowners can serve notice on the Operator although certain conditions must be met for the notice to be valid.
For further information, please contact:
Adele Walker
Solicitor, Real Estate
adele.walker@brmlaw.co.uk
