Across Europe, local government is struggling to find the ‘right’ way to work with MNOs, ISPs, fibrecos, towercos and other neutral host providers to facilitate access to street furniture in a way which is both practical and cost effective. In the UK, the ‘concession’ model (where a council appoints a third party to manage and facilitate access to infrastructure) has been used in high priority areas with varying success, and BT has recently called for a switch to an ‘open access’ model, where each player will deal with the local council directly. In our latest interview, Antony Tomlinson, CEO of the entrepreneurial UK start up ONTIX, argues that the concession model is a best fit for urban areas, and talks us through his rationale.
Making concessions: Ontix’s take on council vs third party-led street furniture models
