Airtel chief executive Iain Williams
AIRTEL has promised to meet the new deadline set by the Office of Utility Regulation to have its network operational by 31 March. The company failed to meet the requirements set for 15 December.
Airtel chief executive Iain Williams said the company had experienced great difficulty in gaining planning approval for sites to install the masts needed to operate the service. ‘We were taken by surprise at the level of opposition,’ he said. Mr Williams said the company had received permission from the Environment Department to use a number of sites around the island ‘mainly based on mast sharing’.
No More Masts pressure group chairman Colin Fallaize was not surprised to hear Airtel indicating it would be able to meet the OUR’s requirements.
‘I have been monitoring the applications very carefully,’ he said. ‘It has always been my view that mast sharing was the way to go.’
He said the group was still opposed to new masts but had no axe to grind with any particular company.
‘It is basically down to a lack of planning and coordination by the Environment Department and the OUR,’ he said.
‘They didn’t anticipate the level of public opposition to the installation of new masts and the whole issue became a mess.’
Mr Fallaize hoped Environmental Health would to look at Continental Europe as well as the UK when considering updating local regulations.
‘We are still very concerned about the health risks of these masts,’ he said.
Mr Williams said those fears were unfounded.
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