UK shared rural mobile mast network to proceed without BT – report
Interesting insight into the relationship between BT and its competitors. This article tells us:
UK mobile operators are close to agreeing a deal to share mobile masts in rural areas, with O2, Vodafone and 3 UK set to build and share their own masts, leaving BT to pursue its own plans, reports The Telegraph.
According to unnamed sources, the plans could be announced as early as the week of 24 February, although this timetable could be delayed as the contracts are finalised. The move by BT rivals to go it alone comes after the company wanted to charge rent for access to its masts, rather than build new shared sites. The proposed fees are understood to be more than 3-times standard industry rates, with BT insisting that the charges are ‘fair and reasonable’ when taking into account its investment.
Once source told The Telegraph that it made no sense for the other mobile operators to spend more sharing the BT network than it would cost to build and share their own masts. The operators declined to comment on the report.