Broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places

Jenwales_2

I used to be an Asda mobile customer. Then they changed to EE and I couldn't get signal in work-when I could get it before- and sitting in my mother's house I couldn't get signal. I think that they need to look into EE as the signal was terrible and they are promoting themselves as being the best network. This may be the reason they've introduced calling using WiFi.
I've since changed to Sainsburys, although I did have problems as they were doing 'work' in the area recently it was sorted.
I can't seem to get a good signal where I work on any network still but EE was the worst. It's not exactly in the middle of nowhere it's right off the M4.

magicgranny

We live in rural Northumberland and our signal is appalling, downloading at 512kb. No films or videos, and downloading anything takes ages. BT is the only supplier, and they charge us the same as someone who gets infinitely better service. It is very frustrating. There are 9 homes in our hamlet, some running home based businesses, all needing Internet access, but BT won't install the hardware needed to connect us, despite constant requests. It's a real drawback of living in a beautiful location, and limits our connectivity with our family ....Skype for example will not operate visuals and sound is delayed and poor quality.

Hurstpol_2

I live a mile and a half in each direction of major populations with fibre broadband , BT has given three dates to connect our estate and also one date confirming junction box had been updated, they now have withdrawn that from their site(openreach) and now state the box is under review, I have had an ongoing complaint for a year and now BT has told me I can leave their system without penalty, but no other provider will take anyone from where I live due to poor infra structure, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do I do now their is a new major industrial complex half a mile away connected already but not us we are paying full price and I have never had more than 1.5 Mbps speed since I moved here a year ago, I have contacted my MP and local council with poor results, they don't appear interested.

ubeehappy2

Struggle with 4G and 3G with Vodafone and signal poor at times not receiving calls and unable to hear when talking on calls.
Broadband extremely slow both with Talk Talk changed to Sky who are no better.

In the age of technology and people working from home as a base there needs to be better connections in place for both mobiles and braodband from all providers so you dont feel need to switch only to find out no better.

Tried several mobile providers over years.

in response to..................

MPs are looking at superfast broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places in the UK. They are particularly interested in rural areas and places with bad connections in inner cities.

What role should the Government, Ofcom (the regulator) and industry play in extending superfast broadband to hard-to-reach premises?

Do you think there is enough competition in these areas, if not, what would better competition look like?

Please tell us your thoughts and we’ll pass them on to the MPs.

hantastic

The situation here in Devon & Somerset is appalling, we have no phase 2 supplier in place for the superfast rollout since BT lost the contract earlier in the year. Trying to get answers from MPs or Connecting Devon & Somerset is like repeatedly banging your head very hard against a brick wall. The B4RDS campaign group has been set up to try and get answers. We need action now, rural homes and businesses here are struggling and it's become an urgent problem! All faith has been lost in the people who have the power to implement change.

emmb

I live in outer suburbs ofCoventry. Google searches show the area as good coverage for most networks and 3g andeven 4g.
My friend and my boss both have top of the range 4g phones..no signal here, in or out the house.
I use network 3 on3g. My ipad works but only has one bar so is slow and if in the wrong place or wrong room in the house might notwork at all or freeze. Facetime and skype is a nightmare...probably not a strong enough signal.
My phone..well, when I wasusing an old fashioned simple phone it always worked, then I switched to a smartphone with the same sim and 70% of the time there is no signal! Grrr. It cuts calls too. I called 3 they sent me a new sim but it made no difference! I have had to dig out an old simple phone so that I canmake calls whenI have to, when it is important or an emergency. Now, so many people can not get hold of me on the normal number I have had to start giving out the number of the old phone. How frustrating. I thought perhaps the newsmartphone was faulty but have had it checked out and it is fine. All of my friends struggle here or have no signal and they all have phones more sophisticated than mine. Ridiculous that I can only use an old phone in this technological age. Any ideas?

scottswatches

I live in Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire, and work from home using the internet all day long. We pay a premium for having rubbish broadband, and fewer options to switch. Running a website is hard work without the speed required. It is the equivalent of someone filling a swimming pool that the whole world want to use, but the person filling it only has a straw to get all the water through. we are currently adding videos to our site, but uploading a 2 minute HD video will take 45 minutes or more. 50% of our business is export, but we are being hindered from expanding that further by infrastructure.

beverleyblue

I live in a market town which can't get EE's 4G signal yet their shop in the town centre boasts deals on 4G tariffs. They should only be able to sell something we can use locally.

Lucyfr

I live in Castlefield, Manchester. My exchange is capable of 7MB at the utmost, I'm lucky if I get 6! The mast nearest to me rarely works if I'm walking near it so will drop phone calls. Oxford Road is also terrible for a signal, I lose it 3 times on the way up to work. Awful for a modern inner city!!

Browntoa

aughtonb4rn wrote: »

There isn't any way everyone's broadband needs will be met except by a national fibre network. Abandon the Victorian copper telephone system completely and replace it with fibre technology for the 21st century. At the moment the country is subsidising BT to tack on a bit of fibre to the copper network to allow some people to go a bit faster. £1.2b has been spent on this so far, and now there are promises of 'other technologies', to deliver to the hard to reach areas. And since when is the middle of Birmingham hard to reach? Nothing can or will match fibre in fitness for purpose- the new technologies such as G-fast are sticking plasters only. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get copper to behave like glass fibre!
Here in Lancashire we have the fastest network in the country. It is ALL FIBRE. And it costs £30/ month with no line rental to BT as we don't need their copper lines.

G-Fast is showing 300mb in live trials so it is providing fibre like speeds so not strictly true