The recent announcement that the contract to provide radio communications for the emergency services in the UK is not be renewed with Airwave will see many landowners and farmers losing the site rental income, says Paul Williams of Strutt & Parker’s Telecoms team.

The UK Emergency Service network is currently managed solely by Airwave, which has been unsuccessful in tendering for the new contract.  This service will be phased out over three years from 2017-2020.  It is currently unclear as to future use of the Airwave sites – some may no longer be used and others may be taken over by the new Operator, which will lead to the need for renegotiation.

Paul Williams says: “Since the early 2000’s Airwave have provided a vital service which has the ability to impact upon every person within the United Kingdom. However, through the effluxion of time the Tetra system deployed has become perceived as outdated and slow, the new system needs to meet current demand in order to reduce latency and improve data capacity. The Emergency Services Network contract is reported to be worth £1.2bn and the tender process is in its final stage with current incumbent Airwave, Vodafone and UK Broadband Networks having been eliminated, either Everything Everywhere or Telefonica will be successful. Although it is unclear as to which company will be successful, it is certain that there will be implications for any landlord who has an agreement with Airwave regarding the future of the site”.

Paul Williams joined the Strutt & Parker Telecoms team following 7 years at Arqiva where he was responsible for a portfolio in excess of 1,500 sites around the Home Counties and East Anglia.  Before this, he worked for two other firms acting for Operators against landowners, giving him invaluable experience of both sides of work undertaken by telecoms surveyors.

Any landowner concerned about their rights when dealing with telecom Operators should contact their local Strutt & Parker office for an initial consultation. However in the first place the most important advice is that anyone in this position must read the lease.