Extra payments for core cables on private land

Farmers will be able to negotiate extra payments for housing high quality 'core' fibre optic cables on their land thanks to a new deal negotiated by the NFU and CLA with Openreach.

The organisations announced the move after an agreement was made with Openreach on wayleave payments with extra provision for farmers to receive increased payments for 'core' cables and traditional equipment including poles, stays and joint boxes.

Openreach, which operates the physical assets in BT's access network, has also agreed to aid communication with farmers with a new contact officer for the NFU and CLA to deal with individual issues.