U.K. TRAFFIC BILL MOVES AHEAD DESPITE TELCOS’ WORRIES
U.K. legislation aimed at clearing road congestion but raising concerns of telcos moved closer to passage Tues. following a debate in the House of Lords. The Traffic Management Bill (TMB), floated by the govt. last Nov., envisions a permit scheme for any road work, including laying conduit. Telcos and other utilities criticize the measure for hampering their work and imposing red tape -- creating costs that will be passed along to customers. Opposition peers floated several amendments telcos claimed would limit the bill’s harmful effects. While these were all withdrawn during the debate, they helped persuade the govt. to take telcos’ concerns into account, said Domhnall Dods, chmn. of the U.K. Competitive Telecoms Assn. (UKCTA) govt. relations committee.
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The key issue for telcos and others is the measure’s permit provisions for doing any road construction, Dods said. No one wants traffic congestion, he said, but there’s no need for a “monster great bureaucracy” to control road digging. The bill should focus on the most disruptive kinds of road work, he said, such as those that create huge holes in main streets. The govt. shouldn’t bother regulating smaller projects like phone line installation if they're “de minimis,” Dods said. In seeking changes to the TMB, UKCTA has joined with British Telecom and the National Joint Utilities Group, which includes cable and wireless companies, he said.
Several Peers addressed industry concerns, offering amendments that would: (1) Require that a distinction be drawn between “minor works” and “more extensive works” in determining whether a permit is required. (2) Provide that emergency or otherwise urgent works need not be permitted. But the govt. minister, Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, told lawmakers that a working group is considering whether some projects should be exempt from permitting. “There is no point in imposing unreasonable burdens on those carrying out works which have minimal impact,” Evans said. Based on govt. assurances, pro-industry peers withdrew their amendments.
“Lots of our concerns were raised and concessions extracted in the shape of agreements to take things into account or consider our concerns,” Dods said, and those are “useful in themselves.” That’s about all utilities could realistically hope for, he said, given the Labor Party’s wide majority in Lords. Moreover, he said, the govt. itself put forward amendments addressing some industry concerns.
Utilities have been a “major problem in digging up roads,” said Bert Morris, deputy dir. of the Automobile Assn. Motoring Trust (AA). The “bureaucracy” that telcos and others complain of actually allows local authorities to plan works to minimize their effect on drivers, he said. The AA wants “much better control” and management of roadworks, he said. The AA backs the govt’s draft and doesn’t want to see it watered down, Morris said.
The Assn. of British Drivers wants to see the “swiftest possible period of time” for road works, and coordination between telcos and other utilities when digging is needed, a spokesman said. In principle, most drivers don’t want to make life unnecessarily tough for utilities, he said -- but they also don’t want telcos and others trying to sidestep the rules by classifying projects as minor when they're not.
The TMB had its first reading in Commons in Jan. Following this week’s debate, the bill returns to Lords July 8 for a 3rd reading, a Dept. for Transport spokesman said. At 3rd reading, industry supporters can introduce more amendments, Dods said, but they can only cover new matters not previously discussed. After the July reading, the TMB heads back to Commons to consider any changes made by Peers.