A Moray politician has welcomed a pledge from a leading mobile network provider after he accused it of poor communication on so-called “not-spots”.
MP Angus Robertson gathered information from constituents about areas where mobile phone network coverage was very poor and in some cases non-existent.
He took the dossier to representatives from EE and raised concerns about communication problems in urban areas around Elgin, Forres and Buckie, as well as more rural areas such as Dunphail and Glenrinnes.
The firm has now written to him to say it has carried out improvement work where possible.
EE has also highlighted that mobile operators have collectively agreed to a £5 billion investment programme up to 2017 to broaden geographic coverage and reduce “not-spots” where coverage is limited or absent.
The company has also committed to improving signal strength for voice and data services.
Mr Robertson said: “While the response has taken longer than it should have it is, in fact, a pretty positive one. I can report to constituents who have raised mobile coverage issues with me, and I welcome the substantial additional investment by EE and other operators to improve coverage and reliability of mobile signals for both calls and data.
“EE have indicated that they are keen to help their customers deal with specific ‘not-spot’ issues and have said that they can call them on their 150 Customer Services number or they are happy to take further complaints through my constituency office in Elgin.
“At least some of the issues I have raised on behalf of constituents have been resolved and there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the others that are still outstanding.
“People are not unreasonable when it comes to mobile phone coverage and if you are in a very rural area surrounded by hills then the coverage is obviously more challenging but in other areas, particularly in population centres, patchy coverage can seem inexplicable. Hopefully the ongoing investment will tackle and resolve that.
The Press and Journal approached EE for a response last night, but the company did not comment.