Cat tells O2: Fix Hospital Area and City Centre Mast!

Residents in the area around the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and city centre have had poor mobile signal for weeks, and I’ve experienced this frustration myself recently.

Over the past few days O2 have been advising: “Sorry, a phone mast close to you isn’t working. Our site has been vandalised. Our engineers are working to fix the issue as quickly as possible. While we do this, you might have some trouble with your calls, texts and data. We’re working as fast as we can. We’ll update you by Friday 25th July 2025”.

I’ve challenged Virgin Media O2 to fix this as a priority.

Businesses rely on good connectivity to ensure that they can operate and serve the community, whilst consumers need to stay connected with their families and friends and ensure they can get on with the basics like booking health appointments, banking, accessing Universal Credit and keeping on top of all of the essential life admin.

This case is particularly troubling in light of the proximity to the hospital. A lack of service both in the residential area as well as in-and-around the hospital, nearby GP surgery and pharmacy risks affecting patients and potentially even their care, as some services may be reliant upon the mobile phone network, for example ambulances accessing records on-the-go and handing over patient care on transfer to hospital.

I am proud to have repeatedly campaigned to improve signal in the Lancaster and Wyre area, including in rural areas such as Pilling, Hambleton and Calder Vale. Residents in the Marsh area may recall in 2023 the saga with the A1 Supa Skips site, with hundreds of tonnes of environmental waste on the Lune Industrial Estate going up in flames. I challenged O2 months prior to the fire to fix the masts, and following the fire to find a new place for phone masts, and supported over 100 residents who were customers of O2 to make complaints to the company and seek compensation.

Frustratingly, as a country we are far behind in our mobile infrastructure. Recent data shows that Britain ranks 22nd out of 25 European countries for data download speeds, with British users getting 5G signal about 10% of the time, compared with over 40% in India. The Government are considering planning changes to build more masts under permitted development rights, and I will look closely at any updates on proposals for better connectivity.

I hope that Virgin Media O2 will manage to quickly resolve the issue facing residents in Lancaster and around the hospital.

How to complain and request compensation:

Check the status of the signal for your postcode at: https://status.o2.co.uk/
If you are a customer of O2, please complete the form below which will be sent directly to the company and a copy to you (or email complaintreviewservice@o2.com).Alternatively, if you are a customer of another mobile network, I would encourage you to use and adapt the text from the online complaint form, and contact your mobile provider to request compensation.