The Telecoms industry is fast-paced, and the growth of new communication technologies means that some sites have become outdated and are no longer needed. The answer is decommissioning.

Our dedicated Decommissioning team manages such projects. Our Property Programme Manager, David Clarke, at Cornerstone, gives us insight into how we oversee site decommissioning.

1.) What do we mean by decommissioning?

Decommissioning means removing telecommunications equipment from a landlord’s property. This process includes active kits (antennas, transmission, power) and passive equipment, including towers, masts, compound fences, and cabins.

2.) Why do we need to carry out our decommissioning at Cornerstone?

We undertake a decommissioning activity for two main reasons:

A.) To remove redundant equipment where operator equipment has been consolidated on-site. For example, two operators may have physical equipment on-site, but when one moves to a virtual presence, it leaves one set of physical equipment redundant.

B.) To remove equipment from a site we no longer require as part of the operator’s live network. We need to remove this equipment to comply with our reinstatement obligations in our leases/agreements and for health and safety reasons.

3.) How do we conduct our decommissioning? Do we have regular partners we use?

We use several key partners for our decommissioning works, and they have all been certified to carry out decommissioning works across the Cornerstone portfolio of sites. We also conduct regular reviews to ensure our standards and procedures are upheld, with corrective actions in place where necessary.

4.) Do we consider any sustainable or environmental factors when we conduct a decommissioning project?

When conducting a decommissioning activity, we take into consideration the sustainability and environmental impacts and have the following in place to help mitigate our impact as much as possible:

A.) All of our decommissioning partners have environmental and sustainability policies that they adhere to and have the correct waste carrier licences for transporting and disposing equipment.

B.) Equipment is recycled and documented using waste transfer notices where possible.

C.) We actively encourage our landlords to reuse passive equipment. For example, we will frequently transfer the ownership of bases, cabins, concrete buildings, and fencing to our landlord for reuse, which can help drastically reduce waste material.

D.) We try to complete our physical decommissioning works in one site visit to work efficiently and reduce the amount of “truck rolls” to the site.

E.) Active kit removed from the site that is still in good working condition is returned to the operators for reuse in upgrades or new site installations. 

5.) How do we engage with landlords where we need to remove telecoms equipment?

Landlord engagement is vital to Cornerstone’s ability to decommission our sites successfully. In the first instance, our decom partners will contact the landlord to book a decom survey. This communication allows us to correctly ascertain what is on-site and analyse the condition of the equipment. It helps our partners to build a scope of works of how the decom will take place.

Once our partners complete the survey and the works are approved, our partner will again contact the landlord to book the removal works. During this process, our partner may provide documentation to the landlord stating how we will perform the decom. It includes any critical information that could affect the landlord, such as the need to relocate livestock or erect livestock-proof fencing and lifting or setdown areas.

Once we have completed the on-site physical work, our partners will issue a decom handover pack to the landlord. We ask our landlords to sign this document to show they are happy with the work carried out and are satisfied with any reinstatement work required that needs to be completed by us.

The landlord will also be issued a termination notice if required in our agreement. The notice states our intentions to decommission the site and the date when we will terminate our interest in the land, handing it back with vacant possession. We will notify the landlord via one of Cornerstone’s legal partners.

We’re excited to launch our SRI (Sustainable, Responsible, Inclusive) initiative which is our interpretation of how we make the ESG agenda relevant to us.

As a company we want to do the right thing and are committed to making sure we are playing our part within a broader societal agenda.

We are already doing lots of great things and are pushing ourselves to do more. We know its not going to be easy as we start out on this journey. However, we are up for the challenge and will keep you updated on our progress. Watch our video to see our story so far!

What a fantastic meet-up with our Partners earlier this week! The buzz and energy were palpable in our first in-person event involving all of our Senior Leadership Team since the pandemic. Partners from across the UK joined us at the Williams Formula 1 Experience Centre to hear about Cornerstone’s direction of travel.

Delegates learned how they play a vital role in achieving Cornerstone’s goals and growth opportunities, and how we can work together to create a sustainable industry.

We were joined by Sustainability Experts Dr. Cristiana Pace, Change Innovator and one of the UK’s first female Formula One engineers, as well as Saunders Carmichael-Brown, who hosted a panel discussion with Cristiana alongside Cornerstone’s Andrew Alexander, Ginette Kilroy and Phil Warren. It was fascinating to hear how two very different sectors faced similar challenges and to have the opportunity to learn from one another.

A number of themes were communicated throughout the day. They focussed around this being a time of:

• cultural shift; as all of us look ahead, understanding the drivers behind Cornerstone’s evolving transformation and that of the wider mobile infrastructure market
• opportunity; just like the world of motorsport, for innovation to drive our industry forward by looking at ways to be more efficient, and do things better
• working together; to co-create to achieve the ambitions Cornerstone have set as the UK’s leading mobile infrastructure services company

Thank you to all our Partners who shared the day with us.

Have a look through our gallery of images below of the event. Special thanks to Mark Heeney for his selection of images he has provided.

A partnership between Cornerstone, Vodafone and Crossflow Energy has resulted in an innovative trial using self-powered sites to enable mobile connectivity in rural locations. It could be a potential game changer for communities across the nation to access mobile and broadband connectivity that were previously hindered by challenging geography and less environmentally friendly power sources. We are at the early stages of exploring greener power solutions and this presents an exciting prospect. We spoke to Nick Spedding, Operations Manager at Cornerstone to find out more about Cornerstone’s involvement:

Nick, what has Cornerstone’s role been in this initiative?

It all began when we were approached by Vodafone and Crossflow Energy. They asked us if we could provide a couple of our sites to prove the concept of Crossflow Energy’s solution in producing off-grid power for mobile telecoms sites through their wind turbine design. Having selected our sites we then needed to work out how to upgrade them to deploy the Crossflow Energy mast.

How are Cornerstone upgrading their sites to house the new infrastructure?

For each site we are swapping out the existing pole for one designed and provided by Crossflow Energy which also accommodates Vodafone’s radio antenna. We’re responsible for the full infrastructure deployment and have been designing the sites with input from Crossflow on their technical specification and Vodafone from a radio antenna perspective. It’s been very much a team effort from everyone.

What else has Cornerstone needed to do?

With this trial we’ve needed to think about additional elements to the mobile telecoms environment. For example, structural considerations and planning requirements that will hopefully lead to planning permissions that are currently in progress. On that, we’re consulting with and where needed, providing the local authorities with information about noise, flicker which is to do with light reflections, wildlife assessment and overall aesthetics to prove the case for this technology.

What makes this trial exciting for Cornerstone?

This collaboration goes a long way in proving the case for renewable energy sources to enable connectivity to communities where previously it has been difficult to do. If successful, it will give us scope to open up more sites without the traditional reliance on diesel power sources, as well as the opportunity to cut down our carbon footprint from mains power and reduce our carbon emissions. It’s an important step within Cornerstone’s wider Environmental programme. As our CEO, Rhys Phillip said,

“Cornerstone is committed to sustainability and safeguarding the future of our planet. Piloting exciting initiatives like this with our partners and customers can only help us develop better ways of contributing to a sustainable, net-zero carbon emission future while ensuring a connected Britain”

Read the Press release issued by Vodafone, 25.11.2021 – Vodafone building self-powered mobile phone masts.