Telecommunications and the Electronic Communications Code

Mast evictions and vacant possession strategies

Advising on termination rights and redevelopment grounds to remove telecoms equipment efficiently.

Telecommunications leases and wayleave agreements

Drafting and negotiating agreements that reflect current market conditions and legislative changes.

Lease renewals and rent reviews

Advising on valuation disputes and reduced rents under the current Code regime.

Electronic Communications Code disputes

Representing landowners in Tribunal applications, imposed agreements and contested rights.

Access rights and installation requests

Supporting clients in responding to operator approaches, including Multi Skilled Visits (MSV) and upgrade requests.

Site sharing and upgrade rights

Advising on operators’ rights to share and upgrade equipment and how these affect your property.

Telecommunications litigation and enforcement

Acting in complex disputes through the courts and Tribunal as part of our wider property litigation practice.

Central London developer

For the last couple of years, we have advised an asset management client on the eviction strategy for removing multiple phone masts and broadband cabling from a major City centre office building which is scheduled for redevelopment. The work involved advising on the eviction process and preparing and serving the necessary termination notices. The matter required co-ordination with the client’s agents and real estate lawyers to ensure that the eviction was timed to coincide with the vacant possession strategy for the remainder of the building. The building will be a new landmark development in Central London. With such long notice periods for the eviction of phone masts, it has required careful planning throughout.

Local authority client

We are advising a local authority client on the urgent eviction of a phone mast from a residential housing block where building safety works need to be carried out. The external cladding is being replaced and the roof stripped off and replaced, which cannot proceed without the phone mast first being removed. Our advice involves outlining the eviction process, serving the necessary notices and taking the phone company to Court for a termination order under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Given the urgency of the project, a summary judgement application has been applied for on an expedited basis.

Residential housing developer clients

We act for several major housebuilding clients, managing the legal work for the portfolio of phone masts on their buildings as well as dealing with the various access requests and wayleave applications affecting their properties. We regularly advise on the options available to landowners in opposing new telecom installations, including objecting to planning applications and opposing Tribunal applications. Our advice also includes managing the rollout of “fibre to the premises” connections in large residential developments and granting leases, dealing with upgrades and site sharing arrangements and acting on rent reviews.