Three mobile phone providers file a complaint

The dispute over the planned mobile phone antenna on the Zythus site and the envisaged planning zone has gone to the next round. The Zug government council now has to deal with the issue.

As is well known, Sunrise wants to build a new antenna by the Zythus light rail (Stadtbahn) station in Hünenberg See. Up to now, local residents have successfully opposed the project, with the most recent decision in this story being made by the Hünenberg municipal council at the end of November, when the council announced that the pending building application would be suspended. The background to this: the municipality issued a so-called planning zone last summer with the purpose of examining a ‘cascade model’ for the approval of mobile phone antennas as part of the ongoing local planning revision (Ortsplanungsrevision). The planning zone thereby covers almost the entire built-up municipal area ,with the exception of the Bösch and Moosmatt working areas, and is effectively a ban on further antenna construction until a definitive rule applies. It will apply until the end of the local planning revision, i.e. up to 2025 at the latest, according to the specifications of the canton. The cascade model that the municipal council envisages provides for the definition of areas where antennas are permitted and where they are to be created as a priority.

Extensions to 5G are possible
As construction manager Thomas Anderegg explains, the planning zone in Hünenberg does not apply to extensions of existing antennas in order to accommodate 5G technology using adaptive antennas. This was stated by the municipal council (Gemeinderat) as a reply to an objection by a local resident during the establishment of the planning zone.

Any extensions of this kind are assessed in the building permit procedures, while new constructions in the planning zone during this period are not examined at all. According to Thomas Anderegg, adjustments to the transmission powers of existing antennas are currently not planned. There are also no further pending requests for new construction. There are currently seven antennas in the Hünenberg municipal area.

These plans are not popular with mobile phone providers, however, and three of them have now raised objections to the establishment of the planning zone, according to the Hünenberg construction manager Thomas Anderegg. "They have questioned the legality of the planning zone in general and, in particular, have taken the view that the planning zone was disproportionate and not in the public interest." A completely different view is held by a Zythus resident, who has also lodged an objection. Among other things, this aims to ensure that the planning zone will also be used with regard to the already pending building application procedure for the Sunrise antenna.

This objection was approved by the municipal council, and pending building applications will be included in the new zone, while the objection of the mobile phone providers was rejected. As Thomas Anderegg now informs, the three mobile phone providers have challenged the decision taken at the end of November, and have submitted an administrative complaint to the Zug Government Council (Regierungsrat). It is therefore still uncertain whether the planning zone will continue to exist – and also what will happen with the antenna site at Zythus.

Coverage is at risk
While the mobile phone provider Salt did not want to provide any information following this statement, Rolf Ziebold, media spokesman for Sunrise, writes that, due to the planning zone, "mobile phone coverage can no longer be ensured on the municipal area of Hünenberg See". This is because the construction of mobile phone antennas is now prohibited over the entire municipal area, with the exception of the work zones. Annina Merk, Swisscom's media spokesperson, adds: "The planning zone will influence a building application that has already been submitted, and will thereby have a retroactive effect, "which is in contradiction to our legal opinion".

It's still unclear what will happen regarding with the planned Sunrise antenna in the Zythus area
Photo: Stefan Kaiser, Hünenberg See

The IG Hünenberg See, which organised the resistance against the Zythus antenna, considers it to be "right and important" that the envisaged planning zone should also include the new construction project in the Hünenberg See area, as President Robert Klauser emphasises. He and his fellow campaigners now hope "that the Zug government council will decide in our favour". He believes that one thing is certain: "Our commitment must now continue all the more." It’s a matter of influencing the possible locations for new antennas in the best possible way.

Robert Klauser is concerned about the recent amendment of  the Ordinance on Protection against Non-Ionizing Radiation (NISV) by the federal government. According to this change, upgrades to installations that have already been approved should be allowed without a new building permit procedure. "With the correction factor, the maximum transmission power can be increased by up to 10 times, which, in some cases, can lead to the limiting values being massively exceeded." The correction factor enables the providers to regularly raise the performance of the adaptive antennas above the prescribed limit value – as long as the average value is maintained over a period of six minutes.

Building Directorate reviews its recommendation
The Zug Government Council now also has to deal with this issue. As the request to construction director Florian Weber (FDP) reveals, the application of the correction factor is the subject of an administrative complaint to the government council. For this reason, he cannot comment on this – and the same applies to the planning zone in Hünenberg. Although the construction and planning law responsibility for mobile radio antennas lies with the municipalities, the canton has recommended that the municipalities only approve adaptive antennas in the building application procedure, and not as a so-called ‘building notification for a simplified procedure’. Due to the revision of the NISV by the federal government as of 1 January 2022 and the resulting change in the legal situation, the Building Directorate is now reviewing its recommendation to the Zug municipalities.