MTN tackles unapproved cell masts in Durban
MTN is scrambling to retrospectively get approvals for 61 cell masts it built in Durban without following procedure several years ago, and says it will remove certain sites if need be.
The group had originally agreed to a partnership with the municipality’s Disaster Management and Emergency Control Unit ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, whereby it would lease space on the department’s security camera poles for cell masts.
“Years later, this partnership was shown to be misaligned with another department within the municipality — the Land Use Management Unit — in terms of the municipal approval processes,” said Jacqui O’Sullivan, corporate affairs executive at MTN.
While the disastermanagement unit had initially said MTN would be exempt from municipal infrastructure approvals, it later backtracked on this, but said it would assume the process itself, according to documents seen by Business Day.
Then, when the municipality ran out of camera poles in 2015, MTN said it would build and hand over 61 more poles to the city. It entered into lease agreements with the municipality.
However, budget constraints prevented the city from adding cameras to these poles, which then effectively became standalone cell towers – to the outrage of locals. “It is inconceivable that a private company can undertake a massive infrastructure project in a city without obeying any by-laws or regulations,” resident Niki Moore said on behalf of an action group called the Durban AntiCellmast Alliance.
O’Sullivan, who joined MTN from Telkom in October 2017, conceded that “this matter has taken far too long to resolve” and said that MTN should have engaged with the community sooner.
The city told MTN in late February that it would have to secure retrospective approvals, including permission to use the land. This would involve a public participation process.
“It is clear that a lack of alignment must be resolved and MTN, along with all the mobile network operators that are currently using these camera poles for their masts, must be held to the same standards,” O’Sullivan said.
MTN would remove or move masts if required.
Vodacom spokesman Byron Kennedy said the company leased passive infrastructure on the premise that “the owner of the infrastructure has obtained relevant approvals prior to construction”.
Vodacom had signed lease agreements for each camera pole with the relevant municipal council, he said.
“Therefore, the necessary approvals for the existing camera poles would be obtained prior to the installations by the owner, thus exempting Vodacom from obtaining the relevant local authority approvals, since the existing … camera poles are considered to have complied with town-planning process and municipal regulations,” Kennedy said.
According to eThekwini municipality’s head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa, all poles MTN was currently using had been approved by the city, though “40 new poles” were not operational or compliant.
“While MTN may have not adhered to all the relevant prescripts of the land-use management protocol in respect of the 40 new poles, steps are being taken to ensure compliance.
“All network providers making use of city camera poles are to adhere to the cell mast policy which guides our regulatory decisions as a municipality,” she said.
Durban has 327 security camera poles that double as cell masts for various operators.