Hundreds of digital masts planned for Scotland's most scenic places

It shows that hundreds of structures are planned for some of the country’s most scenic places where campaigners claim they are neither needed nor wanted.

Funded by Westminster to the tune of £500 million, the project is aimed at tackling so-called Total Not Spots where there is no telecommunications coverage – but protesters argue the money should be spent on improving reception where people live, rather than erecting unsightly structures on uninhabited beauty spots.

READ MORE: Vodafone, EE, Three, and 02 Highlands masts plan condemned

Outrage greeted the idea when the first planning applications were discovered but campaigners have since struggled to obtain grid references showing the full impact on Scotland.

It has taken the perseverance of retired engineer David Craig – and five different Freedom of Information (FOI) requests – to finally succeed.

The programme is being rolled out by the Shared Rural Network (SRN), which told Craig they would not answer his FOI because the SRN is run by a private company.

Next he sent an FOI to Ofcom, the UK Government’s communications regulator, which said the details could not be released on the grounds of national security – even though the masts will be visible by satellites once constructed.

“I then asked for a map showing the area the masts are going to cover without giving the exact places but they said they couldn’t give me that because the public wouldn’t understand the information,” said Craig. However, Ofcom did reveal that the total number currently planned was 274.

“I then went to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) at Westminster but they pretended not to understand the question,” said Craig.

He finally asked NatureScot, which gave him the information he was looking for.

“It may be that Ofcom thinks that the more information it publishes, the more people will get up in arms and start protesting because almost all of the masts are in wild land,” said Craig.

Apart from millions of pounds of public funds that could be better spent improving networks where people actually live, protesters point out that most of these unsightly structures will entail diesel generators, regular visits from refuelling vehicles and new tracks for their construction and maintenance on Scotland’s renowned wild land.

“I overlaid the wild land areas designated by NatureScot on the target Not Spots and it is a perfect overlap,” said Craig. “The entire government budget is being spent on places where there are no people.”

The cost of each mast is an estimated £1m but Craig said the real cost was “the insult to the wildness of these areas”.

“It is part of the Levelling-Up programme, so might be seen as finding a way of spending a large budget quickly rather than a well-considered plan,” said Craig.

“SRN is well-intentioned, but a culture of secrecy means people don’t explain what they are doing and ignorance is a consequence.”

He argued the money could be better spent on first-class telecommunications in areas where people live.

“That is really important for rural Scotland, and this money could be a big opportunity as the advance of the internet means you can do great things in the Highlands if you have good coverage,” Craig said.

“We need a really good, robust network with high data rates giving a signal to every house indoors – that would be a dream thing to spend money on. But that is not what the shared network is doing. It is wasting £500m doing nothing.”

The UK Government’s stated aim is to deliver reliable 4G mobile broadband to 95% of the UK’s land area.

“There has never been any explanation of why anyone thought this was useful,” Craig objected. “There has been no cost-benefit analysis of why this was a good way of spending money.”

He is now appealing to the public to write to their MPs to tell them what is going on and support the campaign led by the John Muir Trust, Mountaineering Scotland and eight other organisations representing community, environmental and outdoor recreation interests in Scotland.

Mike Daniels, the John Muir Trust’s head of policy, said: “We are wholly supportive of improving rural connectivity. Many communities and locations desperately need better coverage. But the approach of the UK Government is seriously flawed.

“Instead of consulting with communities in sparsely populated areas, ministers are imposing top-down targets of which the prime objective seems to be filling in dots on maps rather than providing 4G cover for households and businesses that need to be connected.

“As a wild places charity, we are concerned that unnecessary damage is being inflicted on landscapes and wildlife in isolated locations by unnecessary masts and access tracks, with no evident public benefit and at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to taxpayers.

“We are also concerned at the aggressive imposition of this infrastructure on the community, the environment, and public and private landowners by the four big telecom companies. We want this programme paused to allow for proper consultation with communities and relevant interest groups, to determine exactly what coverage is needed and where these masts are to be located.

“Following a prolonged campaign, the UK minister in charge of the scheme [Julia Lopez] has finally agreed to a meeting, but as yet no date has been set. We want this meeting to take place urgently before any further damage is done.”

A DSIT spokesperson said: “The Shared Rural Network is a once-in-a-generation chance to bring fast, reliable 4G mobile coverage to the hardest-to-reach parts of the country, helping emergency services save lives, supporting tourism and driving economic growth. Regardless of the number of premises in some locations, the masts will provide coverage for those who live, work and explore in those rural communities.

“Local planning authorities are responsible for approving applications which form part of this programme. Publicly funded masts will be shared by all four mobile network operators to minimise impact on the environment and, wherever possible, the programme will utilise existing infrastructure.”