Thekla Fellas

Eversheds Sutherland

Telephone masts go unnoticed by most people, but not Eversheds Sutherland’s head of Telecoms Code group. Thekla Fellas is a specialist in the field and is one of the UK’s pre-eminent lawyers in telecoms matters, which saw her act on the first-ever dispute that arose after the 2017 Electronic Communications Code made it easier for network operators to install and maintain phone masts on public and private land.

Since the code was introduced, the disputes floodgates have opened with network providers pursuing aggressive expansion to improve the UK’s phone connectivity. However, the code has eroded landlord rights around their own land access for site management.

In 2020, Fellas advised landowners on four key cases, three of which have gone up to the Supreme Court – and this issue is not going away in 2021, with several of Fellas’ cases going through the appeals process.

The courts will be unravelling the code for years, likely to set precedents in years to come. Fellas will be right at the heart of everything.