The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Promises broken in phone blackout
MOBILE PHONE giants have been accused of breaking a Ryder Cup pledge after a signal blackout at a Perthshire community.
Residents in Blackford, near Auchterarder, had been promised a major boost to their phone reception as part of a package of improvements ahead of last year’s prestigious international golf tournament at nearby Gleneagles.
Speaking in the run-up to the competition, Adrian Di Meo, chief technology officer at O2 operators Telefonica UK, announced: “We’re the first UK mobile operator to upgrade our existing masts in Perth and Kinross to ensure we give a great experience for all our customers.”
But now, six months after Paul McGinley and his European team triumphed, the area has been left with little to no signal, causing a spate of problems for residents and businesses in Blackford. Some traders have reported missing important calls from clients, while messages left on residents’ phones about hospital appointments have been lost.
A study has been carried out by members of Blackford Community Council to uncover the extent of the local phones problem.
Of the 139 residents who took part in the questionnaire, more than 100 said they now had no service. The vast majority of them are with O2 and said their reception was fine when they took out a contract.
Vodafone customers also reported a drop in service.
ABOUT 60% of respondents had complained and were told by operators “please bear with us, we are trying to fix it.”
Or occasionally: “No one else has reported this”. Some were told that their phones had never worked indoors, which residents said was untrue.
Almost everyone who took part said their reception improved after they left the community, with many saying they are now looking to change phone provider.
The survey showed that many residents and businesses no longer had access to a landline and relied on their mobiles. Some traders said that they had repeated problems with clients being unable to contact them, as well as frequent missed calls and lost texts.
Community councillor Katherine Huggett said: “O2 has failed the community, both in levels of service and in fixing issues when they have been identified.
“We are disappointed at the service and the treatment we have received. We were told that the upgrades would at the very least give a better level of reception to the area in general. “
She said: “To be told we never had reception in our homes is insulting when we know that is just not true.
“Some customers have bought new equipment which they just did not need in an effort to sort the problem out. Others have had to make multiple trips to phone shops to get the phones “fixed”, which has not worked.
“It is time O2 collected all the complaints and actually looked at where they are. We feel like we have been lied to.”
Last night, a spokeswoman for the telecom giant said improvements were being made.
“We have carried out upgrade and main- tenance works in the PH4 area to improve service for our customers. These works finished on February 20 and an engineer has since visited the area to carry out live testing which confirmed that service has indeed improved in the area and that customers have access to 2G, 3G and 4G.”
A Vodafone spokeswoman added that the company had pledged to spend £1 billion improving the network to provide coverage to 98% of the UK population.