EXCLUSIVE: BT and 3 UK representatives told Mobile World Livethe companies will cease jointly upgrading sites through infrastructure venture MBNL at the end of the month, as the pair look to take greater control of their 5G deployments.

MBNL will continue to maintain sites and become an estate company, managing existing passive infrastructure and joint sites on behalf of the two operators, including providing access as necessary.

As of the start of April, both operators will perform all upgrades independently from each other, a move 3 technical services director Patrick Binchy said will allow it to focus on its own priorities, noting it could better ā€œmanage our customer experience and budgetsā€.

He added the company will be able to ā€œdo things fasterā€ without having to get its partner to ā€œagree and accept what weā€™re doing, when we do it and how we do itā€.

BT chief networks officer Greg McCall claimed the refocus of MBNL is a ā€œgood moveā€, citing the ability to focus on its own priority areas independently of 3.

ā€œAs we rolled out 4G and more specifically 5G I think our deployment strategies have been different from each other,ā€ McCall added, noting ā€œrefocusing and restructuring the ventureā€ provides it ā€œmore autonomy and flexibility to roll out our infrastructure where we and our customers need itā€.

But the BT network chief acknowledged it had ā€œalways had a bit of thisā€ flexibility within the agreement, pointing to the differing network footprints of the two operators.

Costs
While network-related joint ventures are often cited as ways to reduce expenses, Binchy noted MBNL in its current form was actually increasing some of its costs.

ā€œOne of the things we found with MBNL is the cost was very, very expensive because youā€™re not just building for yourself, but youā€™re designing and building for both networks.ā€

ā€œYouā€™ve got to try and get planning permission and go through various loops on that, then [thereā€™s] how much do you futureproof the site and to what level are you building it?ā€

He noted following the change, 3 ā€œjust has to look after ourselves,ā€ stating it could focus on its own needs rather than having to engage with BT and potentially ā€œcompromise on a different build, a different timescale thatā€™s more complex, and more expensive build in itselfā€.

McCall highlighted a lot of the cost savings from ventures such as these were within the passive infrastructure, which it will continue to share with 3 ā€œwell into the long-termā€.

3G focus
MBNL was formed in 2007 by 3 and Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile UK to build and operate a joint 3G network covering the active and passive infrastructure.

By the time 4G networks launched, T Mobile was part of Everything Everywhere, a JV with Orangeā€™s local business, with MBNL then serving Everything Everywhere and 3.

Everything Everywhere eventually rebranded EE and is now owned by BT.

For respective 4G networks, the role of MBNL was managing passive infrastructure and aligning the active needs of the pair, with this split continuing into 5G.

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