Northern Ireland Assembly
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Committee to Raise Network Issues With O2
The Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment has agreed that it will write to leading mobile phone provider O2 to seek reassurance that network problems affecting thousands of customers over the bank holiday weekend will not be repeated. Representatives from O2 have also been asked to brief the Committee on what caused the issue and what steps the company has taken to resolve the problem and reassure customers.
Speaking after this week’s Committee meeting, Committee Chairperson Patsy McGlone said: “The Committee is extremely concerned that with a number of local businesses relying on the O2 network to carry out their work, the blackouts in mobile coverage could have severely hampered trade and business over a busy bank holiday weekend.
“A number of Committee members were contacted over the weekend by constituents who were experiencing network problems with O2 and were left, in the majority of cases, without any mobile phone signal at all. In today’s modern economic environment, a reliable mobile service is a crucial element to conducting business generally and in providing essential services to customers. We are keen to discover what the issue was and importantly what action was taken by O2 to keep customers informed on progress towards resolving the problem and reinstating service.”
The Committee also agreed to invite various mobile phone providers in Northern Ireland to brief the Committee about the rollout of 4G and 5G services across Northern Ireland. Representatives from O2, Vodafone, 3 and EE as well as industry watchdog Ofcom are expected to brief the Committee over the coming weeks.
