Following a large number of electricity power outages in Pilling which I have raised and Electricity North West are currently investigating, residents of the village have raised their concerns about the poor mobile coverage in the area.
Currently, there is inadequate indoor coverage, and not enough connectivity for good for mobile broadband.
This is particularly concerning given the recent flood and drops in electricity – and ahead of the BT Digital Voice switchover where landline calls will be made over the broadband network as the ageing copper network is discontinued.
I have already voiced my concerns to BT on this, particularly for older and more vulnerable people who use telecare systems, and whilst BT have given me some reassurances on dedicated landlines and batteries, it is worrying that with poor mobile coverage residents risk remaining cut off in the even of a power cut.
I have written to the telecommunications company Telefonica UK (O2) asking what they can do to improve the mobile signal in Pilling, and my letter to them is below.
Update: 11/11/2024: Virgin Media O2 response:
I have investigated this matter with our network engineering team and upon investigation, the team has relayed our network in this area is working with no known issues, however the distance from Pilling to our existing masts in the surrounding area can impact the signal strength.
One consideration for your constituent, if they have a broadband connection, would be Wi-Fi calling. This is an additional measure customers can take when experiencing challenges with indoor coverage for some of the reasons outlined as it does not rely on the mobile signal to connect calls. The following from Ofcom – Improving your indoor coverage – provides some tips and advice on how to do this plus the following from our website should help your constituent: https://www.o2.co.uk/connectivity/wifi-and-4g-calling.
We have made the network deployment team aware of the request for more mobile coverage in this area and they will look to assess the need for additional mobile infrastructure to serve customers across the area.
There is a time delay to our ability to upgrade or build new masts as it’s determined by a number of factors from obtaining permission to build a site, finding a suitable new site location including landlord permissions, agreement from the local community and the overall cost of the investment which is generally determined by the level of customer need. Thus, we cannot provide a time frame of when indoor coverage in this area would likely be improved, but the request is now in the system and will be assessed in that context.
At present, there are no current plans in place to build any new masts within a closer proximity to Pilling. We will keep this under continual review based on customer demand and I will update you as I receive any further information. It’s worth highlighting the network in this is area is operated and maintained by Vodafone, who are our infrastructure partner.”
It’s frustrating that neither Virgin O2 Media or Vodafone have any plan to build any further masts in the area, trapping rural residents with poor signal.