The UK’s mobile network has reported that a further 29 cases of phone masts being targeted in suspected arson attack over the Easter weekend.
One of the targeted masts serves the just opened Birmingham’s Nightingale Hospital.at the NEC Birmingham.
Trade group, Mobile UK, said that it had been notified over incidents in England, Wales and Scotland.
One of the targeted sites provides mobile connectivity to one of the hospitals in Birmingham, in the West Midlands.
The figures represent a lower incidence rate than had been the case in the previous period.
Attacks on 5G masts pre-date the coronavirus pandemic, but there are concerns that a surge in the amount of vandalism has been caused by conspiracy theories, which falsely claim the deployment of 5G networks has caused or helped to accelerate the spread of Covid-19.
A spokesperson for Mobile UK said: “Theories that are being spread about 5G are baseless and are not grounded.
“Continuous attacks on mobile infrastructure risks lives and, at these challenging times, the UK’s critical sectors must be able to focus all of their efforts on fighting this pandemic”.
