Labour Councillor seeks action over poor mobile phone service

Issued : Wednesday 29 April, 2015

Galway City Labour Councillor, Niall McNelis is calling on the Communications Regulator to investigate what he terms is the very poor mobile phone coverage currently being experienced by customers across the country.

“This is an issue that is coming up time and time again with the public and businesspeople,” Cllr. McNelis who also is a council member of Galway Chamber of Commerce said. “There is a big push to improve broadband services in the country, which is correct, but this is effecting businesses, people can’t even answer their phone in some areas.”

“Already this week we had a major operator experiencing technical outages but as far as I can see, the service currently being offered to all mobile phone users leaves a lot to be desired,” said Cllr. McNelis. “Poor reception at home or at work is no longer acceptable.”

“Anecdotal evidence is very strong that our mobile phone coverage is not at the standard it should be. Calls are constantly being dropped due to poor signal strength even in areas where a better service is expected.”

“Phone companies are constantly talking about 99% and higher population coverage and 3G and 4G availability, but the reality on the ground is far different from my experience and that of many others who have contacted me about this issue, from my own business I meet commercial sales people every day and this is a big problem” said Cllr. McNelis.

“Poor mobile coverage is extremely frustrating for customers, many of whom are trying to conduct business in a very competitive environment, travelling the M6 might as well as be going up a mountain the coverage breaks so often. I’m calling on the Communications Regulator to investigate why our mobile phone coverage is currently so poor and to work with the phone operators to offer a better service to customers.”