Independent councillor Peter Atkinson has blasted a mobile phone firm for the widespread poor signal and lack of network coverage in the Mile Oak part of North Portslade.
Councillor Atkinson, who represents North Portslade on Brighton and Hove City Council, spoke out in response to complaints from people living in his ward.
He is seeking an assurance that the service will be fully restored as a matter of urgency.
The O2 network in Mile Oak is also “piggybacked” by other service providers so the problem goes much wider than affecting just O2 customers.
Councillor Atkinson said that it had been a major problem in Mile Oak for many months, with confusing texts and emails from service providers giving different timescales and reasons for the poor service.
He said: “Residents are receiving a dreadful service – and in some cases no service at all. A lot of people now work part time from home, post-pandemic, and need a fully functioning mobile network.
“There are also people who run businesses from their home address and for whom internet access is crucial.
“Also, many residents have discarded their landline phone and now rely totally on the mobile network which is impossible to use at times for some people.”
Councillor Atkinson said that he had been contacted by a large number of residents and when he gave an update to voters on Facebook he received several more responses.
He has contacted the Labour MP for MP, Peter Kyle, and asked that he and his office use their influence and contacts to get this service fully up and running.
He added: “This is just completely unacceptable. Mile Oak residents deserve better.”
O2 said that coverage should be good indoors and outdoors, including for mobile phone calls and broadband, although Mile Oak did not yet have 5G.
Typical O2 whitewash response.
Yes, the coverage *should* be good indoors and outdoors… but it’s NOT. If there is a signal at all then it is no more than 1 bar and calls fail to connect and drop regularly. It has been this way for a long time and the resolution date always slips with every update.
The councillor seems to be getting internet and mobile access confused as I cant believe anyone is WFH off there mobile hotspot as it would be a painful experience even without this. Also no mention of using WiFi calling as an option for these home workers though that is phone dependent.
O2 does offer Wi-Fi calling but only for contract customers (rather than PAYG) and it is not activated by default – you have to request it.
One of the parsdoxes of our times is that people object to each iteration of cellphone masts (each one is deemed mind-bending) – and then they complain that they cannot get a signal.
Yes, while still buying the newest (very expensive) handset to get 5G regardless of whether the network has been upgraded to it because people are objecting to the new masts!