East Yorkshire: MP calls for firms to stop building poles

The letter states that new telegraph poles should only be installed following community engagement

An MP is calling for telecoms firms to do "everything possible" to stop building new telegraph poles across the country.

Julia Lopez, data and digital infrastructure MP, has sent a public letter to numerous operators, including Hull-based KCOM.

It urged firms to share existing poles, citing "resident complaints" with new builds.

KCOM said it had "repeatedly stated" it was willing to work with competitors.

Ms Lopez also said several law changes have already been made to make it easier for operators to share current infrastructure

It comes as KCOM announced on 14 March it had drawn up plans to share its infrastructure with competitors across East Yorkshire.

The company was previously accused of not allowing other networks to access its underground network, resulting in the build of several new telegraph poles across the region.

Ms Lopez has advised that new poles are only built above ground when sharing existing infrastructure or installing underground lines is not viable.

New telegraph poles have been installed as part of the government's rollout of faster and more reliable broadband.

'Do whatever it takes'

Julia Lopez, data and digital infrastructure MP, said: "There are some firms that are losing that vital community support by inappropriately or unnecessarily throwing up new infrastructure.

"We reserve the right to take further action if things do not improve and will be discussing next steps with Ofcom."

A KCOM spokesperson said: "We have repeatedly stated that KCOM stands willing to work with other providers to provide fair and reasonable access to its infrastructure, should they apply.

"We are legally required to provide access to our network in response to a reasonable request and process applications to use our network quickly and thoroughly when we receive them and they're submitted correctly with all the required information."

A spokesperson for Connexin said: "We welcome Julia Lopez's call for action to help limit the installation of parallel infrastructure.

"We would be delighted to rent reasonable access to KCOM's ducts and poles, at a fair price, to create a situation where the telecoms infrastructure already in place is used more fairly for all."