Graham is fighting to make sure market towns and rural communities in East Yorkshire get the mobile service they deserve.
Hundreds of people have responded to Graham’s mobile coverage campaign, telling him about calls that fail, data that will not load and places where getting a reliable signal is a struggle.
In Beverley and Hedon, the problem is particularly striking. Residents have reported phones showing 4G or 5G while calls and mobile data still fail.
In rural Holderness, people in some communities struggle to get a reliable signal in the first place.
Graham believes market towns and rural communities have been too easily overlooked as the mobile networks have expanded, and he is determined to make sure East Yorkshire gets the investment it needs.
He has now sent anonymised evidence from residents to EE and Virgin Media O2 and asked their engineers to investigate what is happening. Graham will put the same challenge to VodafoneThree when he meets the company.
As well as asking about today’s service, Graham wants to know what has happened to the infrastructure behind it.
He has asked whether any masts serving Beverley and Holderness have been removed or decommissioned in recent years, whether existing sites have enough capacity, where new masts and upgrades are planned and whether additional sites are needed.
Virgin Media O2 has already told Graham that two new sites have been identified for investment in Beverley and Holderness, alongside a number of upgrades. Graham has asked where they will be and which communities they will help.
And he is not waiting for the networks to solve every problem themselves.
Graham has met telecoms infrastructure specialists Radius, which is looking at Beverley and Hedon to identify areas where an additional site could help improve coverage or capacity.
If another site is needed, Graham will work with local councillors and others to see whether suitable land or buildings can be found.
Graham is also keeping his mobile coverage survey open. Residents who have problems with their mobile service can tell him where the problem is and which network they use at grahamstuart.com/mobile2026.
Sean McMaster (South East Holderness) said:
“Poor mobile coverage is a real problem for people in rural Holderness. There are still places where getting a reliable signal can be difficult, and people shouldn’t simply be expected to put up with that because they live in a rural area.
“I’m pleased Graham is pushing the networks to tell us what infrastructure we have, whether anything has been lost and where they’re planning to invest next.
“If better infrastructure is needed in Holderness, we need to know what it is and then work together to help get it delivered.”
Graham said:
“Wherever you live in Beverley and Holderness, your phone should work.
“But for too long it feels as though market towns and rural communities like ours have been an afterthought for the mobile networks.
“In Beverley you can have 4G or 5G showing on your phone and still struggle to make a call or get anything to load. Go further into Holderness and there are villages where getting a reliable signal at all can be a struggle.
“That’s not good enough. People in East Yorkshire depend on their phones for work, keeping in touch with family and getting on with everyday life just as much as anyone in Leeds, Manchester or London.
“I’ve gathered the evidence and now I’m putting it directly to the networks. I want to know whether we’ve lost masts, whether we have enough capacity, where they’re investing and what it will actually take to give people a better service.
“If we need another site, I’ll help find one. If something else is getting in the way, I’ll tackle that instead.
“East Yorkshire matters. I’m going to make sure the mobile networks know it.”
