Good mobile connectivity brings many benefits to communities, from driving economic growth to reducing digital exclusion to encouraging innovation. But it doesn’t just happen by itself. It needs the close cooperation of different local authority departments with mobile network operators (MNOs) and their partners.    

Local authorities are one of the most important facilitators in digital connectivity. Different departments are involved in decisions that affect whether phone masts are built, changed or upgraded. Local authorities often own the local public assets which are needed to improve connectivity, from roads under which cabling for fibre networks can run, to the lampposts and bus shelters which can be used to mount signal-boosting small cells. Their say-so is fundamental in deciding whether local assets can be used to improve connectivity at street level.