The UK's telecoms minister Chris Bryant has told the country's broadband providers to share infrastructure.

His comments come amid increasing concern around the number of telegraph poles being installed across the country.

Bryant met with 15 operators last week to voice concerns about the deployment of the telegraph poles.

The meeting was held as the recently elected Labour government looks to "end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles."

Telegraph poles are a common sight across the UK, and have been favored by telcos due to the fact they are quick and relatively cost-effective to deploy in areas where it's difficult to lay new underground cables.

"We want to support commercial investment, so we are ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework for the fixed and mobile (wireless) networks; we are undertaking a Mobile Market Review to understand the technological and structural changes taking place in the sector; and we are looking at how we can further reform planning regulations to remove barriers to infrastructure deployment," he said during a speech at last week's Connected Britain event.

He noted that the government plans to implement the remaining telecoms provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 "as soon as possible," to drive the country's full fiber deployment to multi-dwelling units.

"And we will put additional momentum into flexible permitting for street works and supporting their implementation as early as possible," he added. "That said, I do want to ensure far greater cooperation between operators to prevent unnecessary telegraph pole deployment or street excavation."

The issue of the over-deployment of telegraph poles in the UK is not a new one. In March, Julia Lopez, then digital infrastructure minister, wrote a public letter to network operators, including Openreach, Virgin Media O2, and KCOM, where she asked companies to prioritize sharing existing telegraph poles ahead of building new ones.

Telcos around the UK have been developing their fiber networks heavily in the last few years, installing the required infrastructure along the way.

The previous Conservative government set out a target to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to 85 percent of the UK by 2025, with 99 percent of premises connected by 2030.