You may remember how I asked whether you’d spotted any hidden mobile phone masts recently and we’ve had a number of pictures. If you’ve used the Ofcom site to find your local mast then this could be what you’ve seen…
They’re not pretty. Huge, imposing towers which are, at best, a little unsightly. One picture sent in featured a mast standing right next to an office building. You can see here that the mast is pretty much the same height as the top floor. It was apparently in place before the office building was built. We’re guessing that the people inside have VERY good mobile reception..
A mast like this is obviously going to cause complaints and, when a planning application is submitted, protest groups usually appear to complain about the unsightly monsters appearing on the landscape. However, we’re seeing more and more “hidden” masts appearing. Here’s some fairly innocent flagpoles which, on closer inspection, are actually mobile transmitters..
..meanwhile, here’s a favourite cover-up method – making mobile masts look like telegraph poles. There’s more and more of these appearing on a monthly basis and, for most of the time, people believe that they are just telegraph poles..
Have a look on the Ofcom sitefinder site to see if your local mast is a big ugly metal tower that people would normally protest against or if it’s quietly hiding at the bottom of your garden, disguised as a telegraph pole.
I actually love the ones that are on top of petrol stations, yet find it increasingly ironic that we’re asked not to use our phones while filling up at the pumps! 😉
Great post – I wasn’t aware of the telegraph look-a-like mast though I have seen the fake tree masts. The telegraph pole looks quite natural, the flagpoles are not very elegant – more like missiles – and are most unconvincing. I would be unnerved if I looked directly at a mast from my office desk like in the picture above, there has to be a good daily dose of non-ionising radiation there! The industry should try to be more creative in their attempts to secure planning permission – I am a planner btw if you hadn’t guessed! 🙂
That mast next to the office is pretty bad – it’s literally at the same height as the top window.
At rooster look up ICNIRP