Ipsos MORI Planning Officers Research Published
The market research company Ipsos MORI has undertaken research amongst local authority planning officers for each of the past 11 years. The planners’ research looks at planning officers’ views on the telecoms planning process and their engagement with the mobile network operators.
The latest research can be found here
In summarising the results, Julien Misell, Director at Ipsos MORI said: “Most planners say the issue of base stations is important, although the proportion holding this view continues to decline. Just over three fifths say mobile operators make themselves available to meet and discuss their plans prior to submitting planning applications. Two thirds now feel sufficient effort has been made to share masts, a significant increase over the last three years. Similarly, over three in five now agree that operators provide evidence of consideration of mast sharing.”
5.1 Million Mobile Broadband Connections
Mobile phones cannot work without a network of base stations (masts). There are approximately 52,500 base station sites (excluding microcells) in the UK. Only a third of these are large, free standing masts. A YouGov survey for MOA (Sept 2012) showed that nearly 8 out of 10 people recognise the link between masts and good mobile coverage. Mobile telecommunications are vital for the UK’s economic competitiveness and in promoting social inclusion. There are now over 81.6 million mobile subscriptions in the UK. Over 5.1 million customers now access mobile broadband services via a laptop and dongle, and 39 per cent of UK adults use their mobile phones for internet access. Tablet ownership rose to 11% of UK households.
No Established Health Effects
Mobile phones operate by using radio waves, similar to those that have been widely used for decades, for example in radio, TV and radar signals. A large number of studies over the last two decades have found no clear evidence of adverse health effects from the use of mobile phones or from phone masts.