Vodaphone have applied to create a controversial 5g antenna in Edinburgh and promise better connectivity.
The City of Edinburgh Council recently validated the plan to create a huge 12.5 metre monopole at the site at land in East Hermiston Farm, Currie.
It is hoped that the new antenna will improve the network and internet coverage for people living within the local area.
The mobile operators Vodafone Ltd and Telefónica UK Ltd, in conjunction with Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd, will be leading the project.
The compound on the southern side of the M8 slip road at the Hermiston Gait Roundabout already has 3G and 4G networks existing at the site but the new 5G network promises to bring a “higher capacity network” to people living in the local area.
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The developers say the site has been selected in a position capable of providing the required essential new 5G coverage whilst being as far away as technically possible from the views of residential properties.
The pre-application consultation was sent to Councillor Ricky Henderson, Neil Gardiner, Susan Webber and Graeme Bruce, Currie Community Council (The Community Clerk), Gordon MacDonald MSP and Edinburgh Airport.
The developer says the project is in the interest of the public and should be given the go ahead.
They said: “The service provided by the operator is in the public interest and is in very high demand with 5G being the next and highly significant advancement in mobile connectivity. In the UK there are now more than 92.5 million subscriptions to mobile networks and mobile services now exceed fixed landlines in terms of customer numbers and usage.
“The public interest of the system is clear from the considerable benefits that will flow and it makes a significant and major contribution towards sustainable objectives.”
The City of Edinburgh Council is expected to make a decision on the planning application in the coming weeks.
