Pictured above: Kirsty Lees
Landowners with telecom masts on their property are being urged
to read the small print before signing any new contracts with their
phone company.
A number of landowners in the region have received letters from
their telecom company outlining changes to the terms of the lease
and the financial agreement.
According to Kirsty Lees, assistant surveyor with Davis Meade
Property Consultants in Shropshire, the new deal will often mean
reduced rents, poorer terms and assignment or mast sharing
arrangements for no extra fee.
"With the mergers of telecom firms such as Vodafone and O2,
Orange and T Mobile, companies are looking share the site, drop or
freeze rents and change the rent formula," she said.
The mergers between Orange and TMobile is expected to allow the
joint company to reduce the number of masts used by at least
5000.
"We are negotiating these changes for landowners to ensure they
get a good deal and are not rail-roaded into unfair agreements. We
aim to assist as many site owners as possible. The greater
the number of sites we represent, the stronger the negotiating
position we can take with the telecom companies.
"There is, of course, the possibility that the telecom company
may want to upgrade your mast and make it suitable for the new 3G
signals. If this is the case it is again important to study your
original terms in the lease and be aware of your negotiating
position.
"Telecom leases in the early days were often poorly drafted and
as many of these are coming up for renewal they are open for
re-negotiation. We have been able to draw up new leases for
our clients with improved terms.
"It important that landowners realise they have a voice in this
matter and don't get pressurised into accepting the first offer
they receive," she said.
Where landowners are told that their site is not longer required
they should ensure the telecom firm takes full responsibility for
decommissioning the site - unless there is the strong possibility
of another company being interested in the site.
"They should insist that the site is reinstated or they could
have to cover the cost of decommissioning themselves.
DMPC has extensive experience in negotiating on behalf of
farmers with telecommunications companies and can achieve the best
rentals and terms