Eight in ten people responding to Graham Stuart’s mobile coverage survey in and around Beverley and Hedon have rated their local mobile service just three out of ten or worse.
Graham launched the survey after residents began reporting serious problems with their mobile phones, including calls dropping out, messages failing to send and mobile data refusing to load even when phones appear to have a strong 4G or 5G signal.
The survey has now received 226 responses from across Beverley and Holderness.
Among the 79 responses from Beverley, Woodmansey, Molescroft, Hedon and Tickton, 63 people, almost 80%, rated mobile coverage in their local area between one and three out of ten.
The average rating across those five areas was just 2.47 out of ten.
The results add to hundreds of comments Graham has received on Facebook about poor mobile service.
One woman said she cannot use her phone in Beverley, including her banking apps, but that it returns to 5G and works normally when she leaves the town.
Another said she cannot call or message her husband when visiting Beverley unless she goes into Costa to use Wi-Fi.
The problem is affecting local businesses too. One market trader told Graham that a working mobile signal can be the difference between making a sale and losing one, while another resident reported traders on Saturday Market sometimes being unable to take card payments.
But the evidence also suggests that the problem is not the same everywhere.
In Aldbrough, residents have previously reported struggling to get a usable signal at all, including concerns about what happens when power cuts take out both broadband and mobile connectivity.
Graham has already taken up Aldbrough’s problems with Three, which acknowledged problems with its local service following complaints raised by residents through Graham.
He now wants to establish exactly what is happening in Beverley and Hedon, where residents frequently report their phones displaying 4G or 5G despite calls, messages and mobile data failing to work properly.
Graham is continuing to collect evidence from residents so he can build a clearer picture of what is happening, where it is happening and which networks are affected.
He has raised the problem directly with EE and O2 and is arranging discussions with VodafoneThree.
His next step is to get network engineers onto the ground in Beverley and Hedon so they can compare what their coverage maps say with what customers actually experience.
Graham said:
“Three out of ten. That’s the average score people around Beverley and Hedon are giving their mobile coverage, and eight out of ten are rating it three or worse.
“That backs up what hundreds of people have been telling me.
“But I don’t want to assume that the problem is the same everywhere.
“In Aldbrough we’ve already been working on a more fundamental coverage problem. Three acknowledged there was an issue after I took residents’ experiences to them.
“What people keep telling me about Beverley is different. Your phone can tell you that you’ve got 4G or 5G, but you try to make a call, send a message or load something and nothing happens.
“So I’m still listening. I want people to keep telling me what happens, where it happens and which network they’re on.
“Then I want the engineers here.
“The coverage maps say one thing. The people who actually live and work here are telling us another. I want engineers from the networks on the ground in Beverley and Hedon to see it for themselves.
“Once we understand why it isn’t working, we can establish what needs to change and get on with pushing for it.
“Your phone should work. That’s the outcome I’m interested in.”
