4  4.7 tied into a renewed term. As companies involved in laying fiber were not using land for an extended period of time, they did not use more formalised processes or documents to negotiate access. One time compensation for disturbance of land was sometimes paid. Compensation for Land Acquisition and Use Human Rights Implicated: Right to not be arbitrarily deprived of property; Right to an adequate standard of living; Right to an effective remedy Field Assessment Findings  Compensation rates for rental of tower sites varied greatly (including both        rooftop and ground towers), from 2 MML monthly ($185) up to 72 MML ($6,676) monthly, depending on the location and the land tax to be paid. Most landowners were agreeing to lease periods of 10-15 years for positioning towers on their land, though periods of 5 and 25 years were also reported. As above, contracts often included automatic renewal clauses. Lease payments were usually paid annually, though some companies paid owners every quarter, some every 6 months and others every 2 years. • Some landowners expressed a preference for larger (e.g. 3 year) up-front payments in order to have sufficient capital to start a business or new venture. • As above, application fees for registering the land in order to host the tower were usually incorporated into the payment for the lease. • Some companies paid additional monthly security fees to the land owner to look after the tower site. Most lease agreements included percentage increases, often 3-5%, every 3-5 years. For fibre construction on religious land it was found that leases and lease payments were not formalised and no official approval had been required. Instead, companies simply made donations. For tower construction on religious land the formal authorisation required at the township level was obtained. Neighbour consent was also obtained. Stakeholders did report difficulty receiving satisfactory information from company representatives regarding the lease, acquisition, and construction process. Most companies seemed to operate according to standard compensation ranges. Some provided site hunters with financial incentives to ensure lease agreements within the specified ranges, e.g. allowing them to keep the amount left over between the agreed fee and top of the specified range, or receive a commission for staying within the range. A few cases were reported of lack of compensation for trees/crops cut down to make room for towers or loss of income from their yields. Access to Remedy for Land Grievances Human Rights Implicated: Right to an effective remedy; Right to take part in the conduct of public affairs; Right to information Field Assessment Findings  As mentioned above, there were regular reports of communities and land  owners not knowing which company was responsible for fibre cable digging or tower construction, including whom to contact in cases of emergency or grievance. Cases of noise disturbance from generators powering towers were generally 218 PAGE CHAPTER 4.7: LAND