Isle MP welcomes improvements to mobile phone service

MP Andrew Percy recently met with operators EE and Vodafone to continue his calls for better coverage across the region. The meeting follows complaints by residents about Isle signal issues, particularly in Epworth.

The companies confirmed improvements were coming within the next year and agreed to take away postcode data provided to the MP by residents.

Mr Percy has also written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports Sajid Javid and the Minister for the Internet Ed Vaizey, who are currently investigating whether legislation is required to ensure improvements are made by the mobile operators. Suggested legislative changes include allowing mobile phones to ‘roam’ onto competing networks, when their primary network has no coverage, and mast sharing, which would make it easier for all the networks to improve coverage in areas where at least one network has a strong signal.

Mr Percy said: “The networks assured me there would be significant improvements over the next 12 months with large amounts of money invested. However, the Government is currently consulting on whether the networks are going far enough, quickly enough.

“There are ongoing discussions about whether legislation should be changed to force coverage improvements. There are pros and cons to this, so it all needs weighing up. The decision on this will be made by ministers over the next couple of months.

“What we do know is we will see significant improvements under the networks’ own coverage plans