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The National Aerials Agreement - Statement by the Church of England and QS4

18 June 2007

The Archbishops’ Council and telecommunications equipment installer QS4 have today confirmed the arrangements which will apply to churches who have entered into licences under the National Aerials Agreement [NAA] after it reached the end of its planned five year term on 30 May 2007. Both parties are satisfied that no further formal agreement is needed, but parishes which have entered into licences under the NAA will continue to benefit from the safeguards it provides.

The NAA, signed in 2002, set up agreed processes and good practice to be followed by mobile phone companies offering mobile phone base stations to churches. QS4 has successfully implemented these with each of the mobile telephone operators. The company has also established a working relationship with each of the Church of England’s dioceses.

The NAA was originally entered into in response to intense interest from mobile telephone operators wanting to place telecommunications equipment in churches. It provided a set of practical processes for parishes to follow, taking account of church legislation and pastoral issues, if they wished to consider hosting a mobile phone base station. Any decision to enter into an agreement to place an aerial on church property (whether with QS4 or another agent working on behalf of a mobile telephone operator) has always been taken by the individual parish, following local planning, consultation, and faculty approval. The licences already entered into, or where a resolution has been taken by the PCC to proceed with QS4 subject to faculty, will proceed as planned.

During its lifetime, the NAA has provided a mechanism to help parishes to decide whether or not to host telecommunications equipment. That good practice is now well established. For parishes which require support in future, QS4 have agreed to continue to use an equivalent set of standard process protocols and legal forms. These provide interested parishes at the early stages of the process with a clear understanding of the form of contractual agreement they will be required to enter into with QS4 and advise on best practice issues connected with the possible installation of telecommunications equipment in church buildings.

John Swain, QS4’s Head of Sales and Marketing said:

“QS4 will continue to honour all contractual obligations with parish churches that have entered into site licences and those parish churches whose Parochial Church Councils have passed resolutions to submit a Petition for Faculty, the Church’s equivalent of planning permission. QS4 will continue to deliver the same high standards of service to parishes by continuing to adopt the processes set out in the Process Protocol documentation that formed the basis of the NAA.

"The past five years have given us valuable insight and experience in working with the Church of England and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationships with Dioceses, parishes and the mobile network operators.”

Paula Griffiths, Head of the Archbishops’ Council Cathedrals and Church Buildings Division, said:

“Parishes remain free to make their own decisions about whether to host such aerials and with whom they contract. But they are expected to continue to consult widely within the local community. Our concern throughout has been to ensure that, where they choose to host telecommunications equipment, good practice continues to be followed.”