Why Yorkshire still can’t get decent mobile signal and what needs to change - Thomas Evans

To improve coverage and roll out 5G, telecoms firms need places to install masts. That means making agreements with landowners - farmers, local councils, churches, schools and small businesses - to host that infrastructure. For years, this model worked. Operators paid fair rent, landowners provided access and the country got connected. I know masts aren’t pretty, but they are necessary for society to function.

But in 2017, the Government changed the rules - and the consequences have been severe. Reforms to the Electronic Communications Code cut rents paid to landowners, in some cases by up to 90 per cent. Under a new “no-scheme valuation” model, telecoms masts were treated like utility pylons, with rent based on the land’s agricultural or existing value - not what it was actually worth to the mobile operator.

On paper, it might sound incredibly technical. But in practice, it meant real financial losses for rural communities.

Take St Mary’s Church in Gomersal, West Yorkshire - it relied on mast rent for a quarter of its annual income. That money kept the lights on and paid for basic upkeep of a Grade II-listed building. When the rent was cut, the church warned it could no longer afford essential maintenance. Many farmers and councils quietly stepped away too - unwilling to lease land for a fraction of what they were previously paid.

Worse still, the changes have caused a wave of legal disputes. Since 2017, more than 1,000 court cases have been brought over telecom agreements – compared to just 33 in the 30 years before. NHS trusts, schools and charities have all been pulled into expensive and drawn-out battles with mobile operators. During the pandemic, one hospital trust had to repay Vodafone £300,000 after losing such a case. That’s public money that should have gone to patient care, not court fees.

The result? Slow progress on the ground. According to independent network data, the UK now ranks 30th out of 39 countries for 5G availability – and 37th for quality. Even India is ahead. In Yorkshire, places like Helmsley or Skipton still struggle to load basic websites. Leeds and Sheffield lag behind Glasgow and Bristol on download speeds. And the coverage gap between urban and rural communities is only getting wider.

These reforms were meant to speed up the rollout. Instead, they’ve pushed landowners away, increased red tape, and poisoned the well of cooperation. When landowners feel they’re being short-changed, the masts don’t get built – and when the masts don’t get built, communities stay disconnected.

Despite all this, the Government is now pressing ahead with more of the same. Later this year, it plans to implement Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act, which will extend the flawed rent model to another 15,000 sites. The courts that hear these disputes are braced for a flood of new litigation.

Even Labour opposed this direction in opposition. Back in 2022, then-Shadow Digital Secretary Lucy Powell warned the legislation is likely to “slow down, rather than speed up” 5G roll-out. She was right. The question is whether ministers still agree.

This isn’t about scrapping everything and starting again. But it is about pausing, reviewing, and asking: is this working? Because the evidence says it isn’t.

We don’t need to look far for alternatives. Across Europe, countries are already doing things differently and price regulation for access to land is simply non-existent. The EU’s new Gigabit Infrastructure Act backs fair-value deals between landowners and telecom firms. It cuts bureaucracy, supports rural rollout and avoids the courtroom wherever possible.

There’s no reason the UK can’t do the same - and do it better. We have the freedom to design a smarter, fairer system. One that treats landowners as partners, not obstacles. One that unlocks investment, restores trust, and accelerates the rollout we all need.

Because this isn’t just about data speeds or signal bars. It’s about whether a small business in Northallerton can sell goods online. Whether a school in Scarborough can access learning tools. Whether an elderly resident in the Dales can speak to their GP via video call.

The Government’s target of nationwide 5G stand alone by 2030 is the right one. But we won’t get there by repeating mistakes that have already slowed us down. We need to pause, fix what’s broken, and put the right incentives in place to get Britain - and Yorkshire - properly connected.

Thomas Evans is executive vice president of APWireless.