The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport in the UK has launched an open call for evidence for the UK government’s review of the Access to Infrastructure Regulations. The review will assess if there are improvements that could be made to the regulations to further boost investment in infrastructure, and encourage the use of infrastructure sharing to deploy telecoms networks.

The government wants to make it easier for telecoms operators to reuse existing passive infrastructure - e.g. ducts, poles or masts - to deploy new telecoms networks. To do this, we need to improve the market for passive infrastructure sharing by ensuring there are fewer barriers to use, and that the correct incentives exist at all layers. Sharing infrastructure can significantly reduce the time and cost it takes to roll out new broadband networks and improve the commercial returns for both the asset owner and the renter.

The government is interested in the views of potential access seekers, potential access providers, telecoms operators, and other interested stakeholders on whether:

• the regulations address a market need
• there are procedural aspects that need improvement
• there are any other improvements that can be made to encourage the use of the regulations.

The deadline to submit the interest is September 04, 2020. You can find more information about this call of evidence here.