Briefing Note: Mobile Planning Reform - Is Your Authority Ready to Enable Investment?
Mobile UK’s new Mobilise Britain campaign is calling for reforms to accelerate mobile deployment, encourage network investment and enable advanced 5G. It estimates that advanced 5G could unlock up to £230 billion of economic benefit for the UK.
For councils and combined authorities, however, national reform is only part of the picture. Planning reform still needs to translate into effective local processes, clear operator engagement and earlier consideration of digital infrastructure within development and regeneration.
What is changing?
Mobile UK is calling for action across three areas: faster planning and infrastructure deployment; a regulatory environment that supports investment; and policy and spectrum arrangements that enable advanced 5G and future services.
For English authorities, this sits alongside the new August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework, which strengthens the strategic role of telecommunications within planning and supports the expansion and upgrading of digital networks.
Why does this matter locally?
The practical delivery of digital infrastructure cuts across Planning, Highways, Estates, Housing, Regeneration, Legal and Digital teams.
Our recent work with Manchester City Council found that the issue is not necessarily a lack of supportive policy or capable officers. The greater opportunity is to connect these activities through a consistent operating model.
We proposed a Digital Infrastructure First approach comprising a single front door for operators, clearer accountability, standardised engagement and submissions, a central coordination function, shared infrastructure information and more proactive management of future requirements and risks.
Crucially, this shifts digital infrastructure from being considered primarily when an application arrives towards being considered earlier alongside growth, housing and regeneration.
What should authorities do now?
The emerging policy direction creates an opportunity for councils and combined authorities to ask a simple question: Are our planning, governance, data, asset-management and operator-engagement arrangements set up to enable the digital infrastructure our area will need?
Authorities should consider reviewing how digital infrastructure currently moves through the organisation, where delays or uncertainty arise, what operators experience when engaging with the council, and whether future connectivity requirements are sufficiently integrated into place planning.
How can Intelligens help?
Intelligens Consulting can undertake a focused Digital Infrastructure Readiness Review, identifying practical improvements across planning, governance, operator engagement, council assets, data and infrastructure planning, and translating these into a prioritised action plan.
If you would like to benchmark your authority’s current arrangements and identify the practical changes needed to support future investment, please contact our team.
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