Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Valuation (Telecommunications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2003.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations –

(a)any reference to hereditaments used for any purpose includes a reference to hereditaments which are unused but in relation to which it appears that when next in use they will be used for such a purpose;

(b)any reference to a company by name is a reference to that company registered by or bearing that name at the date its name is entered in the valuation list.

British Telecommunications Plc

3.  Anything which would (apart from these Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is –

(a)occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by British Telecommunications Plc; and

(b)occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements, or wayleaves, being property used for the purpose of the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services.

ntl Group Limited

4.  Anything which would (apart from these Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is –

(a)occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by ntl Group Limited; and

(b)occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements, or wayleaves, being property used for the purpose of monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services.

Cable & Wireless U.K.

5.  Anything which would (apart from these Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is –

(a)occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by Cable & Wireless U.K.; and

(b)occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements, or wayleaves, being property used for the purpose of monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services.

Revocation

6.  The Valuation (Telecommunications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(3) are hereby revoked.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations revoke with effect from 1st April 2003 the Valuation (Telecommunications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. They provide that specified property used for the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services, occupied or, if unoccupied, owned by British Telecommunications Plc, ntl Group Limited or Cable & Wireless U.K. which would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament.

The principal changes from the revoked Regulations are the removal of provisions relating to Mercury Communications Limited and Cabletel (Northern Ireland) Limited and the inclusion of provisions relating to ntl Group Limited and Cable & Wireless U.K.