Facts
The local zoning plan of the municipality of Günsberg provided for a ban on mobile phone antennas in certain zones for public buildings and facilities. The mobile network operators TDC Switzerland AG (sunrise), Orange Communications SA and Swisscom Mobile AG filed objections against this ban. The Government Council of the Canton of Solothurn upheld the appeals and did not approve the ban. The municipality of Günsberg then filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that mobile phone antennas in building zones can only be considered compatible with the zone if they are in a direct functional relationship to the location where they are to be erected and essentially cover building zone land. Outside building zones, mobile phone antennas are generally not compatible with the zone, as they would violate the requirement to separate building and non-building areas.
Exceptionally, mobile phone antennas outside building zones can be recognized as site-specific if a coverage or capacity gap cannot be adequately remedied with one or more sites within the building zones for technical radio reasons. Economic advantages or civil law reasons for the choice of location are not…