Braes residents treated as ‘digital afterthought’ as ongoing mobile phone signal issues continue

Locals with O2 or Vodafone have noticed a weak - or non-existent - signal, a problem which has been ongoing for “some considerable time”.

Both service providers have confirmed they are aware of the issues and they are working to fix the problem.

Councillor Jim Robertson, who serves the Upper Braes, is aware of the “unacceptable disruption” that the signal issues are causing residents, and has even experienced issues himself with the “erratic service”.

Mr Robertson has confirmed that he is actively working to resolve this issue and hopes to have the Scottish government made aware of the problem.

He said: “As a councillor representing the Upper Braes, I’m continually frustrated and annoyed at the disruptive nature of our Digital Services within the Upper Braes.

“I’m infuriated when my constituents can’t get through to me due to continual connectivity failures.

“This issue has been further compounded when I’m online at Falkirk Council Committee Meetings and due to the erratic service and system failures, has resulted in loss of connectivity, making it virtually impossible for me to raise issues and concerns on behalf of my constituents, and has thwarted me from interacting in certain committees.

“The residents of the Upper Braes have had to tolerate unacceptable disruption to their service for some considerable time, and these concerns have been the subject of social media discussions.

“I have communicated my constituents on-going concerns with our local MSP Martyn Day and asked him to raise these concerns within the Scottish government.

“My constituents, whether in business, working from home or simply trying to communicate with one another, are being deprived of a service that others take for granted, and it’s no wonder that persistent systemic failures sparks extensive constituent fury.

“The Upper Braes community and its representatives are calling on telecom providers and regulatory authorities to fast-track immediate infrastructure investment to ensure rural Falkirk is no longer treated as a digital afterthought.”

O2 have confirmed that engineers will be on site this week to try and speed up the repairs in the Brightons area.

An O2 spokesperson said: “We’re aware some customers in the Brightons area may be experiencing intermittent issues with their service. We apologise for the disruption while our engineers work as quickly as possible to install a new fixed-line fibre connection to the mast.

"In the meantime, other masts in the area continue to operate as normal. We recommend customers enable Wi-Fi calling on their device, allowing them to make and receive calls and texts over any broadband network."

A Vodafone spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to any of our Vodafone customers who may be affected by issues with their 2G services in the Falkirk Braes. This is due to a transmission related issue impacting our mast site. Our networks team are working hard to restore services. We encourage our customers to view Vodafone’s Network Checker to access status updates regarding network issues.”