Petrol stations to list secret phone masts
By Charles Arthur Technology Editor
09 October 2002
Two oil companies agreed yesterday to give a full list of their petrol stations where mobile phone masts are sited after hundreds of the transmitters were secretly erected on forecourts across Britain.

Shell confirmed it had 210 "pico-cell" mobile phone base stations concealed in forecourt price signs. Rival Texaco also promised details of its 20 stations with transmitters.

The McDonald's fast-food chain insisted antennae fixed to walls of 120 restaurants were safe, claiming: "We are talking about power less than 10 to 20 times baby-listening devices many people have at home." A spokesman said they decided not to identify the outlets with antennae, but might put them on its website "for interested customers".

Pressure groups condemned the sitings, despite official denials that the transmitters posed a health risk. Lisa Oldham, the director of Mast Sanity, which campaigns against them, accused mobile operators of exploiting a loophole in the law covering satellite dishes and radio aerials to bypass planners. Shell and McDonald's said all relevant authorities had been informed. But with each cell worth £1,000 a year to the site's owner, critics say commercial considerations have been paramount.

T-Mobile, the mobile phone company that signed the contracts with Shell and McDonald's, said the masts were necessary to keep up with growing demand from the UK's millions of users.

But Ms Oldham said: "They promised faithfully they would consult residents before they put these masts up but they are using a loophole in the law to make a mockery of this."

* The Government's Radiocommunications Agency website, SiteFinder, has details of all mobile phone masts, including location and power output. Use postcodes.

 http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/