Lots of residents in and around Smallfield have got in touch with me to express their frustration with the serious lack of mobile phone signal in the area. Last month I contacted Virgin Media O2 to ask them what they were doing to fix this, and how long before we can expect to see improvements.
However, there has still been no solution and lots of you are still not getting the service you pay for. I've written to their Chief Executive to ask when we can expect a fix and whether they will be considering compensation for their lack of service.
The full text of the letter reads:
"Dear Mr Schüler,
I am writing on behalf of my constituents who live in and around Smallfield in my constituency of East Surrey. For months they have suffered from poor or non-existent mobile phone signal, and they understandably want this to be resolved as soon as possible.
I have been in touch with your helpful parliamentary engagement team at Virgin Media O2, who told me that overgrown trees caused some damage to the site of a microwave dish, and that the dish needed to be raised. This would involve a process of getting permits and permissions from the site owner, and there is no timetable for when this process would be completed.
This problem has been ongoing since at least November last year. Some constituents have asked me why they should pay for a service they do not receive, and I do understand their frustration when this problem has still not been fixed.
I wanted to write to you today to get some answers to the questions constituents have posed to me:
• Can you provide a timetable for when normal service will be restored?
• Can you explain the delays in getting permits and permissions to raise the dish?
• Will you look at whether affected customers will be entitled to some form of compensation?
I would be very grateful if you could provide some answers to the questions above, and I look forward to hearing from you. Please do let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Best wishes,
Claire Coutinho
Member of Parliament for East Surrey"
