No coverage in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent

[Anonymous]

My husband and I, both 02 customers have been experiencing serious problems during the past 3 weeks or so with no signal, emergency calls only and we are unable to text from home, occasionally we can call but then the signal drops and we are disconnected.  We have spoken on many occasions eventually about a week or so ago 02 admitted there was a problem locally, however we have since contacted them for an update and are informed there is no problem in this area. Very conflicting advice and extremely frustrating - just read a comment about the mast  that was on the hospital building  that is going to be demolished so wonder if the problem will ever be resolved.

[MI5]

Whilst the council is refusing planning permission for a new mast it is unlikely. As I said on the other post you need to lobby your councillor.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe lobbying the council is the solution, as the phone contracts are with O2 and we pay O2 to provide a service. Obviously for all us O2 customers living in this area this is now becoming a major issue. The matter needs some resolution quickly, with some definite response from O2.

[perksie]

O2 cannot erect a mast without planning permission.

[MI5]

Unbelievable.... Maybe you would like someone from O2 to walk around your area with a mobile transmitter attached to them....????
Typical NIMBY attitude

[jonsie]

It's a difficult one but you can't get away from the fact that o2 are unable to provide network coverage at the moment. If a mast has been decommissioned then surely that in itself is reason to cancel without penalty.

It is hardly the OPs fault, they haven't moved house and it is O2 who cannot replace the mast? Or is it just me?

[MI5]

I agree it is grounds for a penalty free contract cancellation but the attitude that "I'm not prepared to put myself out to contact the authorities" is the bit I find amazing..... It's not gonna get fixed unless enough people make enough of an issue with it at the local council..... or is that just me?

[Anonymous]

When this first happened on the 14th of November, I didn't give it much thought until it had been down about 3 days. Things happen, things break and I'm not the kind of person to ring up in rage that I haven't had a signal for 6 hours. o2 made it worse in some ways. The first 2-3 times I called, they insisted that the mast was still there and was working. I insisted that the 17ft mast that I used to be able to see from my house and was still visible on streetview was no longer there. I also told them that the building was being demolished in a matter of days so really, the fact that it's been taken down ahead of this is almost irrelevant, it would have happened anyway. Then when I spoke to them a few days later, they pretty much denied that there was ever a mast there. I had to guide them to it on the ofcom mast locator showing it as o2 owned. I get the impression that they are trained never to admit that there will be no/bad signal. They insisted that I have a new sim card which obviously didn't change anything. They tried saying that it's the iphone's fault that it won't switch from 2g/3g even though my phone works great everywhere else just like it always has. They say that I am in range of 7 other masts and that it should work fine but it just doesn't. Also, if this was the case, why was the mast there in the first place? I think if I was to walk towards Newcastle or stoke, I'd get a decent signal within a couple of minutes and at pure gym (basford roundabout) I get a solid 5 bars 3g signal so it's probably a small blackspot. I also tried explaining to them that although stoke looks close on a map, it is much much lower than HartsHILL so the masts aren't as close as they appear on a map. I get no service much of the time or 1 bar of signal. I have seen it climb to 3 bars but it will still go to no service. If I try to make a call there is a long pause before I either get a ringtone or call failed. When it does connect, it will last anything from seconds to maybe 3-4 minutes before it cuts off. In terms of cost, I'm lucky that I can give my notice at the end of this month so I've just been trying to see if it's worth hanging on or just ordering a phone with a different network. They have added a couple of small credits to my account so I could justify over-lapping for a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Just thought I'd add these links:

link

link

link

[adamtemp64]

Have you tried turning 3g off on the iphone just to see if it picks up a 2g signal.

The iphone is designed to lock on to the fastest data signal and if you are in a borderline signal between 3g cells you will see this happening

Also I think o2 were trying to do the right thing with those 2 planning applications as they must have known that the existing mast was to come down. I also note that residents had coplained of poor coverage in one of thos links!!!