Norfolk Chamber will be providing a business perspective to both Norfolk County Council’s Digital Innovation & Efficiency Committee and representatives from the four main providers of mobile networks in Norfolk later this month in meeting to discuss how mobile coverage in the county could be improved. Senior figures from EE, Telefonica/O2, Three and Vodafone have agreed to come to a meeting of the county Council’s Digital Innovation and Efficiency Committee on Monday, 22 January to update councillors on their current investment plans and identify any opportunities to work together to improve the quality and reach of mobile data and voice coverage in Norfolk. Tom Garrod, Chairman of the Digital Innovation and Efficiency Committee, said:
“We all know that mobile coverage in Norfolk is some way off where we want and need it to be. “Rather than grumble and point fingers, we want to see if there are practical things we can do to help the situation. I’m really pleased the four major mobile providers have accepted our invitation to come and talk to the committee. With a willingness to work together this could be a watershed moment for mobile connectivity in the county.” Opportunities to improve mobile coverage in Norfolk could include identifying and trying to remove any common barriers, using public sector buildings and assets to host mobile infrastructure and better sharing of information, including the results of the County Council’s recently announced mobile coverage survey. This will map mobile voice and data coverage across all major networks providing services in Norfolk. The council is due to award the contract to carry out the survey later this month and the results should be available in March.
Nova Fairbank, Public Affairs Manager for Norfolk Chamber, who will be attending the meeting, said:
“Every Norfolk business wants to able to take advantage of new technology developments as they evolve. To achieve this we need more investment in our mobile signal infrastructure and changes in how the service providers operate i.e. roaming signals. The present mobile coverage maps show that there is still a big difference between coverage levels when using a mobile phone indoors and outdoors – by definition a mobile should be just that – mobile.
“A recent British Chambers of Commerce survey showed that 83% of Norfolk business users experienced ‘not spots’; 43% had access to 4G; and more concerning, there is still 11% of business users who can only access 2G – voice calls only, with no internet or data.
“We have a diverse and innovative business community in Norfolk, however if we want to be seen as a place to do business and be able to compete at a national and international level, we need more investment in Norfolk’s mobile signal infrastructure and a better service from the mobile providers, including roaming signals.”
As well as the four mobile providers, representatives from the mobile networks trade body, Mobile UK, will also attend the meeting and take part in the discussion, which will be held at 10am on Monday 22 January 2018.
Does your business regularly experience poor mobile phone signal coverage? If you can provide any additional evidence, please contact Nova Fairbank by email: [email protected].
