Leading the Way: How MIF Working Groups Are Shaping Safety, Planning, and Land Rights for UK Connectivity

Behind every seamless mobile connection across the UK lies a complex landscape of planning permissions, structural safety standards, and property law. Through the Mobile Infrastructure Forum (MIF), participants within the TowerCo sector unite to turn shared operational hurdles into clear, practical solutions that accelerate national digital deployment.

Here, MIF Working Group Chairs Kerry-Anne Ellis (Building Safety), Will Osborne (Planning), and Jonathan O’Neill (Land) share how industry-wide collaboration is modernising policy, demystifying new legislation, and paving the way for the UK’s next generation of mobile connectivity.

Building Safety: Navigating Compliance and Protecting UK Infrastructure

By Kerry-Anne Ellis, Chair of the MIF Building Safety Working Group

Building safety has undergone its most profound transformation in a generation. For the telecommunications sector, keeping pace with an evolving regulatory landscape is not just about ticking compliance boxes—it is about ensuring that the digital backbone supporting millions of people is delivered safely, reliably, and without unnecessary bottlenecks.

As Head of Health, Safety & Environment at MBNL, I have spent more than 25 years working across construction and infrastructure. Leading the Building Safety Working Group alongside our industry partners means finding the sweet spot where rigorous compliance actively supports rapid digital connectivity, rather than slowing it down.

The working group brings together an exceptional coalition of network operators and infrastructure providers, including MBNL, Cellnex, Cornerstone, BT/EE, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree, and WIG. By pooling expertise, we address the sector’s shared safety challenges with a single, authoritative voice.

Since the landmark introduction of the Building Safety Act, our focus has been firmly on action:

• Shaping Policy: Providing clear, unified responses to government and regulatory consultations to ensure policies reflect the operational realities of telecoms deployment.

• Demystifying the Rules: Developing practical guidance and bespoke tools that help members pinpoint exactly what constitutes "building work" under new regimes.

• Raising Standards: Championing sector-wide competency initiatives that maintain the highest safety benchmarks across all site operations.

Being part of the Mobile Infrastructure Forum (MIF) makes this level of impact possible. MIF provides the neutral, collaborative table where commercial competitors can align on critical non-competitive priorities. Instead of seven different companies attempting to interpret complex legislation in isolation, we work through the challenges together—giving regulators a coherent industry partner to engage with, and giving our sector a safer, more consistent path forward.

Planning for Progress: Modernising the Frameworks That Connect the UK

By Will Osborne, Chair of the MIF Planning Working Group

Every mobile call, connected ambulance, and high-speed data connection relies on physical infrastructure on the ground. Yet before a single mast can be erected or an antenna upgraded, it must navigate the intricacies of the UK planning system. When planning processes stall, national digital connectivity stalls with them.

In my role as National Planning Manager at MBNL, and over 25 years in both fixed and mobile telecoms—from the early days of Openreach fibre cabinet rollouts and 3G deployments right through to nationwide Standalone 5G—I have seen firsthand how pivotal a responsive planning regime is to national growth.

The MIF Planning Working Group serves as the industry’s policy engine room for town and country planning. We represent the collective deployment interests of MIF participants across England and the devolved administrations. Our mission is twofold: champion legislative reform that removes unnecessary red tape and foster best practice across the industry’s own planning operations.

Our work centres on delivering tangible outcomes for digital rollout:

• Securing Legislative Reform: Engaging directly with central government, devolved authorities, and major combined authorities to modernise permitted development rights and national planning guidance.

• Unlocking Public Benefits: Ensuring planning frameworks enable the swift deployment of mission-critical connectivity for both the public and emergency services.

• Benchmarking Performance: Improving planning application success rates through early stakeholder engagement and evidence-led policy advocacy.

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The true strength of the Planning Forum comes from its home within MIF. Telecoms planning is a specialised, highly technical discipline; by convening the leading planning minds from across the industry, MIF transforms individual operational hurdles into a coordinated national strategy. It allows us to present a compelling, evidence-based case to policymakers, ensuring the UK's planning system is an engine for digital innovation rather than a barrier.

Land Rights for Connectivity: Reforming the Legal Frameworks Behind UK Mobile Infrastructure

By Jonathan O’Neill, Chair of the MIF Land Group

Every mobile network depends on access to land. Behind each mast, rooftop installation, and site renewal sits a complex framework of land rights, telecoms property law, valuation principles, and legal processes. When those frameworks are unclear, slow, or inconsistent, the delivery and retention of critical digital infrastructure becomes harder than it needs to be.

As Head of Legal (Estates, Litigation & Regulatory) & External Affairs at MBNL, I work across estates management, strategic litigation, regulatory matters, and external affairs. Chairing the MIF Land Group means bringing that legal experience together with expertise from across the mobile infrastructure sector to help turn complex legal and policy challenges into practical, evidence-led reform.

The MIF Land Group acts as the Forum’s dedicated engine for land rights, telecoms property law, and site renewal reform. We develop coherent industry positions on the legal and regulatory issues affecting network deployment, retention, and day-to-day operations, providing strategic advice and recommendations to the MIF Executive.

Our work centres on ensuring legal and policy reform reflects the practical realities of infrastructure delivery:

• Leading Reform: Guiding key discussions on legislative and consultation proposals, including Electronic Communications Code and PSTIA reforms, the scope of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, and judicial processes.

• Building the Evidence Base: Drawing on operational experience, site renewals, litigation, and valuation issues to support credible, evidence-based policy engagement with government and policymakers.

• Supporting Public Affairs: Contributing to wider MIF initiatives by helping policymakers understand the practical consequences of proposed property reforms for long-term site access and rollout.

The impacts of land rights and telecoms property law are felt across the entire connectivity agenda. By convening leading legal and property minds from across MIF’s participants, it provides government and stakeholders with a trusted, single industry partner to engage with—helping build a more efficient, predictable property framework for the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure.