I remember about fifteen years ago standing under a phone mast in a misty field surrounded by sheep on high ground in a farmers field in Cornwall. There was still no reception.
The masts are essential for rural areas and I’m sure connectivity has improved but it seems that the rental contracts between the farmer and the Telecomms operators have not been honoured and the monies the farmer’s receive have been greatly reduced.
This is due to changes made to the Electronic Communicatons Code in 2017 which has exposed people renting their land to host a ‘Phone Mast’ to lower rents in order to make the infrastructure investment cheaper and in theory increase coverage, but in fact could do the opposite.
This is definitely a David versus Goliath scenario , with the Telecoms operators unwilling to negotiate and saying “see you in court”, which of course the farmer will in most cases be unable afford. It’s risking time and money to try and get fair treatment.
Again common sense should prevail, you cannot cut a rent that was agreed fifteen years ago, just because you want the infrastructure to be cheaper.
Also the farmer’s land is his and who he gives access to it is up to him. To have a decent infrastructure the masts need to be maintained and located where they can provide the best coverage.
Surely at the very least there should be an arbitration service to act as a go between between the landowner and the telecoms operator.
