SOUTH OF COUNTY MISSES OUT ON MOBILE G4 UPGRADE

Charlotte Barnes, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Ludlow and Bridgnorth, has slammed O2 and Vodaphone for failing to address poor signal reception in the South of the County in their latest proposed upgrade programme.
Charlotte said “I’ve been involved in a intensive campaign since April to get EE to improve their signal in my County Division. Now we find that Vodaphone and O2 do not look like they are going to do anything about upgrading their almost equally unreliable signal across the South of the County.”
Vodaphone/O2 announced a programme of proposed upgrades to handle a 4G signal across Shropshire on Monday (29th). Of the 35 masts being upgraded NONE are in the South of the County. Councillors were invited to comment on the suitability of the sites before formal planning applications are made.
Charlotte said ” Much of our area suffers from a poor and in some case declining mobile signal. We have been already told that many of us will be loosing out on superfast broadband and now it looks like we could well miss out on 4G.
“It is not only an issue of personal convenience. Large part of rural Shropshire are in grave danger of becoming economic backwaters simply by not having access to modern communications.
“O2 and Vodaphone’s consultants MRTPI Mono of Glasgow have asked for comments by the 16th January. I will be submitting a strong representation to these companies, urging them to give a firm commitment to upgrading South Shropshire to the same standard as the rest of the County. I will also be asking all of my council colleagues in the area to do likewise.”