In March, the U.K. government encouraged mobile network operators to limit new pole deployments, where possible, to reduce the aesthetic impact on communities. The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) released a new study revealing that 69 percent of U.K. residents surveyed would accept new poles being installed “in their street” in exchange for better broadband. Total Telecom reported that the ISPA survey, conducted in February, included 2,563 respondents.
“Poles have always been a historic feature of the U.K. telecommunications network and the new data clearly shows that the vast majority of the U.K. population is fine with that,” said ISPA’s chairman Steve Leighton.
The ISPA study also revealed that poles might be less of an “eyesore” than reported in the media (a.k.a. NIMBY-related stories): 37 percent of respondents said they “rarely or never notice telecom poles when out and about.” In comparison, 19 percent say they notice them “frequently or always.” When asked if they would be willing to pay extra to have the network deployed underground, 61 percent said they would not.
According to Total Telecom, the study results are good news for telecom budgets since poles provide more cost-effective infrastructure than underground cables. Leighton added that the ISPA will “engage proactively with the government to ensure that local concerns are reflected appropriately, but we need to avoid a situation where objections from a minority lead to higher prices for everybody.”
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