Promoting and enhancing best practice and technical expertise

Telecom Best Practice: Reforms and Case Law in 2022

The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill is passing through Parliament. It is likely to pass into law with few amendments. It will impose new obligations and responsibilities on site providers and intends to give greater certainty to telecom operators to speed up the roll out of 5G. What are the details, how does it reset site provider and operator relationships and what do consultants working for one side or the other need to know?

Start Date Venue Price  
16 June 2022 Virtual Seminar    

Note: All prices are to be paid in GBP and are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate

Event duration: Morning Virtual Seminar (2.30 hours CPD).
Registration from: 9.55. Event starts at: 10.00. Event finishes at: 12.20.

Download and print your full course brochure here not available

The professions, the government, and various codes connected to landlord and tenant behaviours promotes good and effective communication that creates trust, understanding and minimise conflict. Yet those words are rarely used in the world of telecom agreements, between site providers and operators! 

The Bill will introduce changes to the measure of rent in those cases where agreements subject to the Code are coincidentally protected tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. The Bill contains provisions for dealing with unresponsive occupiers, arrangements for ADR, and complaints relating to the conduct of operators. The Bill contains powers to impose time limits on the determination of proceedings. In the case of telecom agreements, the Code, and the powers to confer, compulsorily, agreements containing code rights, already causes a serious imbalance in negotiating strengths., This creates an all-powerful operator and an often unmotivated, unwilling, or potentially an antagonistic site provider who receives little of no benefits for the location and access rights to their property. At best, relationships are strained, at worst, both parties end up in Tribunal; and the number of cases that have had to be resolved demonstrate a profoundly unsatisfactory Code.

Some questions arise. Does the new legislation;

  • Give more power to the operators to get agreements without the delay and costs of going to Tribunal?
  • What tools will site providers (and occupiers) have to resist the operators?
  • What happens to the body of case law?

The first part of this event will focus on the changes to the Code under the provisions in the Bill, and how they will impact on site providers. How does this translate to those advising site providers and those negotiating on their behalf?

The second part of the event will review the latest case law. There have been two Supreme Court, and numerous Tribunal decisions. Many of these are far reaching in their effect in how the Code operates, whether or not the Bill is enacted.

Speakers

Programme

Welcome and Introduction by Conference Chair, Barry Denyer-Green


New Legislation

A Dissection of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill


A Commentary from a Site Provider's Consultant


A Commentary from an Operator's Consultant


Panel Discussion 


Case Law

Case Law Review, including:

Is There a Way to Improve Relations?

Panel Discussion and Audience Question & Answer