Small Cell Forum urges EU to ease deployment rules

Small Cell Forum has urged the European Commission to address barriers to small cell deployment in its proposed Digital Networks Act, arguing that municipal access rules remain a central problem.

In its response to the Commission's consultation, the industry body said Europe's current framework still leaves operators, neutral-host providers and infrastructure companies facing delays and uncertainty when seeking to install small-area wireless access points.

Its intervention focuses on how the rules work at local level rather than on broad policy aims. Existing provisions remain relevant, it said, but access to street furniture and public buildings is often handled inconsistently by municipalities, with approvals granted on a case-by-case basis.

This has created a patchwork of processes across Europe, slowing deployment of the infrastructure needed for 5G densification, private networks and urban coverage.

Local access

The organisation is calling for more standardised conditions for the use of public infrastructure at municipal level. It also wants more practical technical rules for small cell installations, arguing that current restrictions on equipment size and power can leave projects feasible on paper but difficult to carry out at scale.

Those constraints are especially relevant where operators need higher capacity, wider coverage or multi-operator arrangements. Any new framework, it argues, should reflect the operational realities of deploying dense wireless networks in towns and cities.

Dr Prabhakar Chitrapu set out the group's position in response to the consultation.

"The Digital Networks Act is an important opportunity to help Europe accelerate deployment of the infrastructure needed for advanced connectivity. Small cells are essential to 5G densification, private networks and high-capacity urban coverage, but deployment still depends on practical local conditions. To be effective, the regulatory framework must make access to public infrastructure clearer, faster and more predictable," said Dr Chitrapu, Chair of Small Cell Forum.

The submission also addresses neutral-host and shared-infrastructure arrangements, which have become more prominent as mobile operators and enterprises seek lower-cost ways to extend coverage and add network density. The forum said the Act should provide clearer legal treatment for these models, including where active equipment forms part of the deployment.

It argued that legal uncertainty has led to differing interpretations between EU member states and that a more consistent approach would support broader use of shared networks and reduce duplication of infrastructure.

Shared models

Neutral-host systems allow a single infrastructure provider to support multiple service providers from the same site or network layer. Supporters say the model can lower rollout costs in dense urban areas, venues, industrial sites and other locations where separate parallel deployments may be harder to justify.

Small Cell Forum's European regulatory working group said that point should be reflected in the final law. The organisation wants policymakers to ensure the rules are clear enough to support scalable shared deployment across the bloc.

"Europe's connectivity needs cannot be met through traditional deployment models alone. Neutral host and shared infrastructure models can reduce unnecessary duplication, lower deployment costs and support more efficient use of infrastructure. For these models to scale, the legal and regulatory position needs to be clear across Member States," said Ana Urban Atance, Regional Chair for Small Cell Forum's Regulation & Policy Group in Europe.

Another part of the response concerns numbering policy for private networks. Small Cell Forum welcomed the inclusion of a numbering framework in the proposed legislation, saying it could support private mobile networks that may benefit from separate network-identification-number assignments.

Demand for network-identification resources is widening as more private and neutral-host networks are built, and as cross-border sovereignty issues affect network design and governance, the group said. In its view, the legislation should recognise those expanding requirements rather than rely on assumptions shaped by older public mobile network structures.

The intervention comes as European policymakers consider how to update telecoms rules to support denser 5G deployment, industrial connectivity and broader digital infrastructure goals. Small cells, typically lower-powered radio nodes used to increase network capacity and fill coverage gaps, are widely seen as important for handling mobile traffic growth in high-demand areas.

Yet practical deployment issues have persisted across many markets. Access rights, municipal approval procedures, physical constraints on equipment and uncertainty around shared models have all featured in industry discussions about why urban rollout can be slower than policy ambitions suggest.

The forum said the priority for the legislation should be to ensure existing frameworks can be applied in a predictable, timely and scalable way, particularly for private and neutral-host networks as well as conventional mobile deployments.

Current rules need to work in practice if Europe is to meet its connectivity objectives and avoid deployment delays caused by fragmented local implementation, it added.