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Operators’ case is that AI infrastructure will depend on the networks connecting devices to services, but many of the upgrades they seek need planning approval at existing sites.
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VodafoneThree is planning £11 billion of 5G and mast upgrades as executives anticipate AI-enabled devices driving heavier mobile traffic within two to three years. The operator expects to cut its mast footprint by 30% while upgrading existing sites, but says roughly 96% of required work still needs planning approval. The warning comes amid weak UK network performance: a Which? analysis ranks the country below all EU and G7 peers. Operators are seeking faster approvals plus business-rate and energy reliefs.
VodafoneThree says more than half of upgrades at existing sites require planning permission, despite no new mast being proposed.
The company plans to reduce its nationwide mast network by 30% while increasing capacity at remaining locations.
Which? ranks the UK 57th globally for network performance, 70th for download speeds and 55th for reliable quality.
The UK’s next AI infrastructure constraint could sit between the data center and the user. Mobile operators warn that wider AI use may add sustained demand to networks whose coverage and performance already lag comparable countries, while planning rules slow upgrades to existing masts.
The first phase of the AI infrastructure race has centered on data centers and the water and energy needed to cool and power their computing systems. As AI use spreads through consumer and business services, broadband and mobile networks will also have to carry the resulting traffic.
A senior telecoms executive said connectivity could become a national competitiveness issue as AI is integrated into devices over the next two or three years. Andrea Donà, VodafoneThree’s networks director, likened the projected strain to the signal loss at major public events, arguing that mass AI use could make that congestion persistent.
Things are going to change massively with the next wave of devices, in two or three years when AI is integrated into everything.
Senior telecoms executive, quoted by the Guardian
VodafoneThree has committed £11 billion to mobile-mast and 5G upgrades. Its approach is not principally an expansion of the physical mast footprint: the company plans to reduce its nationwide mast network by 30% while improving existing locations.
That distinction is central to the operators’ complaint. Donà says about 96% of the upgrades VodafoneThree needs are at existing sites, yet more than half still require some form of planning permission. The industry says those approvals can be lengthy and bureaucratic even where it is not proposing a new mast.
A Which? analysis using Opensignal data places UK mobile coverage below that of all 27 EU member states and every other G7 country. It ranks the UK 57th worldwide for network performance, 70th for download speeds and 55th for reliable quality for uses including video calls, streaming and gaming.
Mobile operators also want financial treatment closer to that given to other infrastructure. They argue that telecom networks are classified as critical national infrastructure, but do not receive the business-rate and energy reliefs offered to data centers and utility infrastructure.
The warning is a forecast about future capacity rather than evidence of an AI-caused service failure today. The unresolved test is whether planning reform and operating-cost relief arrive in time to change how quickly operators can upgrade networks for the demand they expect.
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