Plans to build a new 5G mast at a High Wycombe school have been submitted to Buckinghamshire Council.

The 25m high new structure would be located at Highcrest Academy on Hatters Lane if the plans are approved.

It would include new antennas and dishes and would replace the existing 15m tower at the secondary school.

5G, the 5th generation of mobile network, is faster than its predecessors and offers greater capacity, meaning thousands of devices in a small area can be connected at the same time.

The application for the new tower at Highcrest has been put forward by radio mast company Cornerstone, which was set up by O2 and Vodaphone.

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Cornerstone and WHP Telecoms said a in a joint statement submitted with the plans that the new tower would help ‘ensure that coverage and capacity demands are maintained and enhanced’.

Their statement read: “The demand for mobile data in the UK is increasing rapidly, and as households and businesses become increasingly reliant on mobile connectivity, the infrastructure must be in place to ensure supply does not become a constraint on future demand.

“This proposal is therefore required to ensure this area of High Wycombe maintains access to high-quality 4G service provision as well as introducing the latest 5G technology.”

They added that 5G had the potential to ‘improve the way people live, work and travel’ and to deliver ‘significant benefits to the economy and industry’ by connecting more devices to the internet at the same time.

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