The builders of a 5G mast have appealed to Liverpool Council to fast track an application to construct it amid surging internet use in the city's suburbs.
Mobile Broadband Network Limited has applied to build a new mast in Allerton as part of the rollout of the new technology, saying it will also increase internet capacity more generally and help the increasing numbers of people working from home rather than in offices in the city centre.
MBNL, which is equally owned by mobile phone giants EE and Three, says the shift has meant an increase in internet capacity in residential areas is needed quickly and has asked council officers to treat the application urgently.
It comes after weeks of attacks on telecoms masts and workers tasked with constructing them by groups falsely linking 5G technology with coronavirus.
Masts in Aigburth and Melling are among those to have been set on fire since the coronavirus outbreak started.
There is no scientific basis for the claim that 5G is linked to coronavirus and Public Health England's guidance is that there are no known health effects stemming from 5G.
A letter, submitted by MBNL to the council, is appealing for a decision on the new mast to be treated as a "priority submission" as planning applications sre subject to delays due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The letter says: "At present it is paramount that digital connectivity is supported and maintained throughout the country.
"In particular, the current massive shift in user demand from city centres and places of work to residential areas and suburbs requires an improvement in coverage and capacity throughout the whole network.
"The current proposal therefore provides such additional capacity to the network whilst still promoting the improved 5G technology."
The letter goes on to say that the 20 metre mast is designed to allow future technologies to be used if demand requires it.
MBNL say they are expecting the increased demand in the city's suburbs to continue "for the foreseeable" future as people work from home.
