At the end of 2017, the Digital Economy Act 2017 came into force, impacting upon all land connected with electronic communication networks. The Act itself considers the rights of service operators, such as BT or EE, over all land that holds, for example, masts, wires, cabling or, as the Act broadly describes, any structure or thing that is designed to be used for electronic communication networks. The Act calls these ‘apparatus’.

If any of these electronic communication apparatus, or something similar, is situated within your property, then the Act will affect it; the question is: how much?

If you have an agreement in place prior to 28 December 2017:

• By and large, you are not significantly affected yet, as there are few retrospective changes to the rights that you or an operator had over your land;
• You are still entitled to terminate the agreement in the same way and can still be entitled to compensation that recognises that the land is part of the communications network; however
• Should your agreement expire or terminate, any new written agreement will fall within the scope of the Act.

If you have made an agreement after 28 December 2017 or have no written agreement in place:

• These are governed by the Act – you cannot opt out of it;
• Your operator is entitled to install, inspect, maintain, alter or repair the apparatus, amongst others, as and when is necessary – these are their Code Rights;
• Your operator is entitled to enter the land to do the above and, further, has the right to interfere or block access within, to or from the land and even cut back vegetation that may interfere with the apparatus;
• If you do not have an agreement in place yet, an operator may approach you to enter into an agreement. If you do not agree within 28 days, the operator may apply to court to impose an agreement and its terms upon you; and
• Depending on the circumstances, the operator can even circumvent that 28 day period if the agreement is urgent.

What can you do?

• You can respond in a timely manner to ensure that court proceedings are avoided and you can influence the terms of the agreement with your operator;
• Whilst you cannot limit the operator’s Code Rights, you can negotiate an agreement that manages the Code Rights in a way that suits you; and
• You can consider redevelopment of your land that would remove or affect the apparatus and its functioning.

We are able to consider any current or prospective agreement and advise you on the best approach. If you would like to discuss the way the Digital Economy Act could affect your property in more detail, or are concerned about the effects the Digital Economy Act could have on any agreement in the future, please contact me. I am based in our Chelmsford office and can be reached on 01245 453811 or daniel.sturman@birkettlong.co.uk.