Last updated 16-Jan-2023
Despite planning permission for the new mast being put forward last year, no real progress has been seen. The Parish Council are aware and are following up to understand why.
Church Eaton does not have adequate mobile phone reception from any of the carriers and this has been a common cause of complaint from the residents of the parish. Some of the areas on the outskirts of the parish have better coverage, Marston for instance, but this is still limited indoors. When individuals contacted their providers, the poor coverage was often blamed on older devices or other factors and it was felt that the complaints were not taken seriously.
In the Spring of 2021 the Parish Council ran a survey and over 50 residents fed back the quality of their mobile phone signal, both indoors and outdoors. Across the board this was worse than the Ofcom map said it should be. The results were aggregated on behalf of the Parish.
In parallel, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are starting a nationwide consultation on the impact of mobile coverage in rural areas. This is part of their Shared Rural Network programme which aims to increase mobile network coverage across the UK to 95%. They now want to find out how this programme can help you in your daily life.
To participate use this link: https://dcms.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7QWTy9OUU4PNnmK.
Alternatively you can email Laura.Hensel@dcms.gov.uk to request to complete the survey over the telephone.
We will update this page as further progress is made.
24 July 2021
The Parish Council have now received a Pre-application consultation proposed telecoms installation CTIL_3007610 Grass Verge of Woolaston Lane. If this goes ahead then this will significantly improve phone reception, including indoor, for those on the O2 network and possibly Vodafone under a joint agreement they have.
18 Aug 2021
The Parish Council understand that planning has been granted for the mast. We are seeking information as to when work may start but we are advised that these things are typically reasonably quick.
2 Feb 2022
Work on the new mast does not seem to have commenced, however some people have reported slightly better reception in general. It is still not good, and can be patchy, so we will continue to push the providers to improve coverage.
21 May 2022