We could very soon see more masts and much higher ones too. It comes as the government ends a consultation into 5G planning restrictions, with proposals including the deployment of radio equipment and strengthening existing masts without approval. It also looks at adding more masts nearer to highways and higher masts subject to prior approval.
If you’re struggling to sleep, this document details all the ideas. The consultation period ends later on tonight and, if waved through, it means that the existing planning rules will effectively be binned for 5G masts.
This is good for coverage, sure, but as we’ve seen over the last few years, finding your local mast has become harder and harder. Initially there was a lovely online database to let you locate your closest mast, but then the Government made it optional for locations to be added, resulting in less detail being available. Now your best bet it with sites like MastData.com but, with the upcoming explosion in mini 5G masts, it could become ever more difficult to locate those antennas.
In the consultation, 50 metre masts were shown to deliver more greater coverage – especially in rural areas – and we could soon see these masts being erected more easily.