Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer and Network Director at VodafoneThree, is pressing for rapid planning reform to speed up mobile infrastructure deployment. He cautions that slow regulatory approval timelines could disadvantage the UK in the global race to deploy artificial intelligence capabilities.

The merged operator has £11 billion earmarked for network investment but requires government intervention to accelerate the deployment process, Donà explains. "It's embarrassing because, as an industry, we haven't been able to deliver what the UK economy, the public, the consumer, business needs, in terms of performance of national critical infrastructure, like mobile," he tells Mobile Europe.

Donà attributes the investment bottleneck to restrictive planning requirements that have slowed operators' ability to deploy capital efficiently. "We've been hampered in our investment. If you look at our situation today, we've got £11 billion to invest. I need government to help me through planning reform, to be able to spend that money in the most efficient, effective and fast way."

Streamlining permitted development rights

A key priority for Donà involves reducing the planning burden for minor modifications to existing infrastructure. He points out that even small upgrades to mobile masts currently require full planning approval.

"Not everything should go through full planning. We should expand the permitted development rights," he states. "When I've got an existing mast and I need to expand it by two metres in height or half a metre in width, I need to do full planning. It should be permitted."

Donà also emphasizes that operators should retain discretion over where network improvements are most critical, rather than being directed toward alternative locations. "Effective because I know what I need to upgrade. Please allow me to upgrade what I know I need to to do. Don't divert me to say, 'Why didn't you upgrade this side as opposed to that?' That's suboptimal. That will not deliver the correct effective solution. It'll be suboptimal."

He elaborates that inefficient planning processes force unnecessary spending and delays. "Then it won't be efficient because I will have to spend twice rather than spending it in the right place for the right reason and let me do it fast, because the planning approval process is quite long."

Another concern involves notices to quit when buildings undergo redevelopment. Donà notes that VodafoneThree typically receives 18 months' notice to vacate sites, but installing replacement telecoms infrastructure requires 32 to 36 months—creating a substantial service gap.

Rather than seeking blanket permission to install equipment everywhere, Donà proposes a more targeted approach. "Just by default, grant redevelopment rights on the basis that, should we need to have a telecom solution there, you can have it."

Network capacity and AI infrastructure

Donà frames the planning issue within a broader context of national AI competitiveness. He argues that realizing the UK's artificial intelligence ambitions requires robust network infrastructure capable of handling massive data flows between end users and data centres.

Drawing an analogy to highway systems, he suggests that AI applications demand sufficient network bandwidth to prevent congestion. Without adequate capacity, user experience deteriorates significantly.

VodafoneThree is already implementing advanced network capabilities through 5G standalone (5GSA) technology, which offers reduced latency and greater capacity. The company recently launched SuperMobile for Business, a service that uses a dedicated 5G+ network slice to guarantee businesses reserved bandwidth and consistent performance levels, particularly in congested urban areas.

"Due of the frequencies we have and the capacity we're putting in, and because it's a 5G standalone network, the latency and response to any instruction sent to the network are fast. That gives you a good AI experience," Donà explains. "You don't want to be interrogating AI and waiting for a response to arrive."

He warns that insufficient network infrastructure could undermine the nation's digital strategy. "If you don't have the motorway built for that level of traffic exchange between the data centres and the end users, you could very quickly end up with congestion, and then we'll fall behind."

"To not fall behind in the AI race, you need the data centres that do the calculations, the inferencing and all the processing of the data. But you also need the motorway and the pipes to transfer that data." He continues: "That's where we need to be careful to make sure the UK doesn't fall behind."

Infrastructure matching national ambitions

Donà contends that the UK's economic objectives require telecommunications infrastructure of comparable quality. "The UK deserves to be number one in telecoms. It's a first-world country, it's got a very developed economy, and the government has a growth ambition."

"It should have an infrastructure that's worthy of the ambition that the government has. If the UK wants to lead the world in terms of AI adoption, in terms of digital adoption. It needs the infrastructure to do so." He adds: "Not having the infrastructure is the embarrassing bit."

Following the merger of Vodafone and Three, VodafoneThree now possesses the financial resources for substantial network investment. Donà emphasizes that the company requires a streamlined regulatory pathway to deploy these funds effectively. "Now we have the investment. For the first time ever, I have the investment. I'm not asking anyone for the money. We brought the two companies together as neighbours to create synergies that allow us to invest in the network."

"Now I need the opportunity, or the clear route, to spend it fast so I can build what I need to build," he concludes.

Source: Mobile Europe