Telecommunications

If you’re leasing your land to a telecoms operator, it’s important to protect your interests. We’re here to help

We frequently help estates, landowners, and farmers on issues around telecoms masts and other equipment.

Always keeping things pragmatic and grounded, we’ll advise you on your rights and obligations under the Electronic Communications Code (often called the Telecoms Code or the ‘new’ Telecoms Code).

Using our experience in telecoms leases, we’ll also protect your interests and get you the best possible outcomes when implementing the terms your land agent or surveyor has agreed with the operator.

Legal matters to consider

As well as working towards favourable terms, we can help you manage or avoid a range of potential legal issues that many landowners and operators don’t consider, such as:

• Whether there is scope to negotiate the standard ‘off the peg’ leases that operators propose
• Maintenance obligations and rights, including on land adjacent to the leased site
• Implications of telecoms leases on croft or agricultural land, and how to manage these
• Access issues, including the extent of land over which the operator might have access rights and what its maintenance obligations might be

Disputes and termination

If you find yourself involved in a dispute with a telecoms operator, there are different options and we’ll explain these to you.

Our firm’s Dispute Resolution and Litigation team are highly experienced at representing landowners’ interests in telecoms disputes at the Lands Tribunal. We understand the factors the Tribunal will take into account when it comes to disputes, and can effectively present your case and suggest appropriate remedies.