Use of mobile telephony in the UK

Mobile is a key element in UK communications making a significant contribution to our way of life both business and pleasure and to the national economy. There are five mobile phone network operators in the UK 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone - providing mobile services to 62.5 million subscribers. Very few of us could imagine life without mobile phones. Our phone use is certain to increase in the future with services being continually expanded such as third generation data transfer (3G) and access to mobile broadband.

The UKs 62.5 million mobile phones need an extensive network of radio base stations - often referred to as masts - in order to work. Each base station carries only a limited number of calls at any one time, so, as mobile phone use increases, so must the networks. This is why the technology is often referred to as demand led - it is mobile customers themselves who are driving ongoing network development.

At present there are approximately 47,000 base station sites located across the country and it is estimated by the network operators that this will rise to 50,000 by the end of 2007. The mobile operators need to ensure that there is an efficient network service to allow people to use their phones when and where they want.

Although mobile phones first became available in the UK in1985 the technology was not widely adopted until the late 1990s when ownership of mobile phones jumped from around 9 million in 1997 to almost 40 million in 2000. At the same time some questions were raised about possible adverse health effects from mobile phones which are low powered two-way radios. The publics concern has mainly been focused on base stations rather than handsets even though the exposure to radio waves from a base station is typically 1,000 times lower than that from a handset held close to the head.

Health issues

In response to public concerns, in 1999 the UK Government set up an independent panel of experts, chaired by Professor Sir William Stewart, to review the science and make recommendations. The Stewart Report concluded: “that the balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near to base stations on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines". It recommended a precautionary approach including ongoing research, adoption of the international ICNIRP guidelines on public exposure to radio frequency emissions, and reviewing the science in three years time.

The mobile phone industry responded by jointly funding the UK's independent 7.4 million research programme. Mobile phone operators build and operate their networks to the ICNIRP guidelines. Furthermore, base stations have been independently audited by Ofcom since 2000 and have been found to be operating at small fractions of the ICNIRP guidelines. In addition a searchable database of base stations was set up by Ofcom in 2001: www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk

The independent UK Health Protection Agency Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation completed a follow up review of the science in 2003 and had a very positive message for the public on base stations and health: “Exposure levels from living near mobile phone base stations are extremely low, and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely to pose a risk to human health.”

In 2005 the National Radiological Protection Board (now part of the Health Protection Agency) review of science concluded: Within the UK there is a lack of hard information showing that the mobile phone systems in use are damaging to health.

The conclusions of the Stewart, AGNIR and NRPB reports are in line with over 20 other expert reviews around the world that have reported since the publication of the Stewart Report in 2000. The Ten Commitments to best siting practice

Planning issues were also raised in the Stewart Report with some groups expressing the view that the planning system did not allow them enough time to make their concerns known. In 2001 the mobile phone operators published their Ten Commitments to best siting practice to improve significantly the amount of information provided to and consultation carried out with local planning authorities and local communities. The operators identified the need for both planners and local communities to have information before a planning application is made to allow enough time for their questions to be answered. The Government also increased the statutory consultation period for prior approval planning applications when it amended the regulations in 2001 - it is the same as for full planning applications.

The aim of the Ten Commitments is to ensure transparency in the building of mobile phone networks, to provide more information to communities and local planners, and to boost the community’s role in the base station siting process. Local councillors, planners, and communities have a vital role to play in this process. The Ten Commitments are now contained in the ODPM Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development published in 2002.

A key change brought about by the Ten Commitments was the provision by the network operators to every UK local planning authority of their network development plans for the coming twelve months. For the first time, local planners, councillors, and communities were given the opportunity to look over the horizon and to have an early and direct input to the network development process. The plans are provided each autumn and an offer is made to meet with local planning authorities to discuss them. Although the uptake on those offers by local authorities has been extremely small, encouragingly, it showed an increase this year. Where meetings have taken place they have been very successful.

In addition, the Ten Commitments established a new and improved site selection and planning model requiring direct input by local planning authorities and the carrying out, where appropriate, of pre-application community consultation. In other words, local councillors and communities are being asked for input on potential site locations before any planning application is lodged. This is in addition to the normal consultation carried out by councils themselves as part of the planning process a significant improvement on the previous system. Local councillor involvement is seen as a key part of the consultation process. When they have engaged with operators in the pre-planning application consultation stage, it has been extremely beneficial to both parties giving local communities a real opportunity to influence the location, design and type of base station development in their community.

Monitoring delivery of best practice

In order to provide ongoing quality assurance, the MOA commissioned two independent reviews of how well the network operators were implementing the Ten Commitments. In reports published in 2003 and 2005 the auditing firm Deloitte concluded that the operators were making and continuing to make demonstrable progress in this regard.

In addition to this research, during the past five years MORI has carried out for the MOA an annual survey of local planning authority officers attitudes towards the development of base stations. In a report published in July 2005 MORI concluded that most local authority planners who are involved in base station development have a generally positive view of the operator’s behaviour. The research showed positive improvement in all areas of consultation year on year.

The operators remain fully committed to working co-operatively with local authority planners and councillors and local communities to ensure that the right balance is struck between the ongoing need for access to world-class mobile communications in the UK and environmental responsibility at the local level. For more information on this subject and to view the Deloitte and MORI research please go to the MOA website: www.mobilemastinfo.com