The saga of the Missing Mast!

Situation update - as at October 2024

Sharp eyed parishioners may have spotted the first signs of work on the platform for the new mast as contractor personnel have been about.

We still have no indication of any change to the last schedule which suggested that the mast would be live by the end of January 25 over 3 YEARS from the loss of the previous mast.

Pressure is still being applied to try to ensure there is no further slippage to this schedule - but the signs of activity are at least a positive step.

Situation update - as at July 2024

Following the election and return of our MP - his officer has now obtained a disappointing update from MBNL which seems to suggest that despite all the "legals" being sorted - it will now take them 3 months to start working on the mast and a further 3-4 months to complete it!

This means our community has been without effective signal for over 3 YEARS.

Further attempts to escalate the matter to improve this forecast, have so far been fruitless.

"Further to my email earlier today, I have received an update from MBNL, who advise the following:

• Legal completion took place on 28^th June.
• Build works are forecast to commence on site from late October (2024)
• Full integration/on-air forecast for late January 2025

These dates are subject to change in either direction due to equipment availability and weather etc. But hopefully this gives a good overview of where things currently lie. do appreciate the frustrations it has caused to the local community, and we fully understand the importance of feeling and being connected. Services will be back to full strength as quickly as possible.”



Situation update - as at May 2024

Further good news to report Rodney received a sharable update from the infrastructure company operating on behalf of EE/ BT and Three.  Looks as though they are hoping to commence construction in July/ August subject to is being dotted and ts crossed!!

“We are now in a position where the site can progress. I’m providing a general update of where we are which can be shared should you wish.

 It has been a journey to get to where we are, initially delayed following the site fire and following our initial surveys because we were asked to explore a different area for the site. This is quite a detailed process and requires searches and multiple levels of surveys to be conducted to assess the lands suitability, not only from a construction perspective but also from a coverage/technical perspective. Following the results of the secondary analysis it was agreed that we would progress with the original option. 

We were in a good position with all the detailed design matters undertaken, it was just the new lease to be agreed.

Regrettably, it did take longer than we had anticipated to finalise the lease details, but we have worked closely with the site provider and their newly appointed agents to reach an agreement that everyone can work with. And whilst this element did take some time to resolve, we are happy it was resolved in mutually agreeable way.

The legalities surrounding the lease are being expedited and we hope to finalise that paperwork as quickly as possible to enable [us] to schedule in the construction activities. We anticipate these matters to be concluded by the end of June/early July. The site will then move to our build phase with those works commencing as quickly as we are able to. I’ll be able to provide a clearer timeframe on that later in June (subject to the legal paperwork progressing as we are hoping).

We do appreciate the frustrations it has caused to the local community, and we fully understand the importance of feeling and being connected. Services will be back to full strength as quickly as possible.”

HISTORY

Where are we now?

Almost 12 months after the planning approval - there is still no sign of progress with a new mast.

The landowners at the farm advise that they have had little recent contact from the operators and we have been unable to get any reassurances over timeframes from the operators.

Further investigation by residents, notably Rodney Hodgkins, has indicated both a lack of progress or indeed urgency on the part of the operators suggesting that without a significant body of complaints - our need may being out prioritised by other cases.

WE ARE ASKING FOR YOUR HELP!

If affected we are asking for your support in A MASS COMPLAINT about the long term lack of service for our community...   

IF YOUR SERVICE IS FROM EE (or services which use the EE network)

you can call 150 on your mobile phone or use the following link Make a complaint (ee.co.uk)

IF YOUR SERVICE IS FROM 3  (or services which use their Network)

you can call 333 or use the following link Complaints form (three.co.uk)

We recommend using the forms as these are automatically recorded!

WHAT TO SAY

You wish to make a formal complaint over the extremely poor signal quality re mast 98206 in Bishampton.
Points that people may wish to raise are that:-

• Many of your important services eg banking require coverage for two factor authentication and you cannot receive messages at home
• they are responsible for national emergency phone coverage and currently Bishampton and Throckmorton do not have reliable coverage.
• Service has been inadequate since the mast at Nightingale Farm burnt down in December 2021
• Planning permission for a replacement mast was granted in December 2022 but nothing further has been done. 

Rodney has also asked that people send copies of their complaints to:-

Claire Simpson, EE Executive Complaints on email address: customer.complaints@ee.co.uk quoting Reference Number: 21563774 stating that they have complained about the poor signal quality in Bishampton and urging EE to bring forward the replacement of the mast.

Please also cc Nigel Huddleston our local MP  - nigel.huddleston.mp@parliament.uk

Thank you!