Building regulations relaxed – Stuttgart Journal

Baden-Württemberg: The state government wants to facilitate the expansion of mobile communications by easing the building regulations for the construction of mobile communications antennas.

By Dirk Meyer

Baden-Württemberg wants to facilitate the construction of mobile phone masts. The state cabinet approved a corresponding draft law on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. The draft will now go to the state parliament for consultation and decision. If parliament approves, the simplifications could probably come into force in the second quarter, i.e. before the summer break.

The following changes are planned:

• The extension of the procedural exemption for antenna systems up to 15 meters high indoors and up to 20 meters high outdoors. So far, only systems up to 10 meters high indoors and outdoors have been made process-free.
• The reduction of the distance areas in outdoor antenna systems. This is achieved by changing the relevant calculation factor from the current 0.4 to 0.2 for the system height. The reduction allows mobile phone antennas to be installed outdoors even on small-scale plots of land.
• The procedural exemption for portable (i.e. mobile) antenna systems up to an installation period of 24 months. This creates flexibility for mobile network operators; This makes it easier to close dead spots.

Further measures to strengthen the expansion of mobile communications

Facilitating the construction of mobile phone masts is one of several measures taken by the state government to strengthen mobile phone expansion. Further measures are:

• the establishment of a competence center for broadband and mobile communications in the Ministry of the Interior, for Digitization and Municipalities.
• the provision of suitable state properties for mobile phone transmitters.
• a state-owned information and communication initiative on the subject of “mobile communications and 5G” to increase social acceptance of the expansion of mobile communications among the population.
• a constant and close exchange with the operators about the expansion status and the next steps. One result of the efforts was the agreement on the expansion of the new 5G technology in Baden-Württemberg – as one of the first states.
• A new location collection tool that helps plug dead spots.