‘Discrimination in mobile network coverage unacceptable’ – McGreevy | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

‘Discrimination in mobile network coverage unacceptable’ – McGreevy

Councilor Connaire McGreevy recently called on the Council to write to O2 outlining concerns over their mobile network coverage in Newry and Mourne.

McGreevy raised the matter in the Council chamber after being contacted by residents in Killowen and Rostrevor.

Speaking to Newry Times, McGreevy said:

“The service between Rostrevor and Kilkeel is totally unacceptable and at some places there is no signal at all.

“There is active discrimination occurring in our district by O2 and other mobile network providers. In places the signal is stronger from the Irish Republic meaning that phones can automatically switch over to O2 Ireland costing more money to use.

He continued, “Even with recent EU changes to roaming costs, the price still remains far too high and is a constraint on proper modern communications in our district.

Commenting on risk to life as a result of roaming McGreevy said:

“On a more serious note, a resident informed me that they recently rang 999 from their mobile without realising they were roaming on O2 Ireland and it rang through to the emergency services in the Republic while they were calling for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

“This resulted in a delay in getting transferred to the correct emergency services unit and could have caused a risk to life.”

Looking to the future McGreevy said;

“Newry and Mourne was recently announced as one of the youngest populations and it also has a vibrant business community which relies on mobile coverage.

“I also called for the Council to include in the letter a plea to make Newry City a 4G test site for O2. This is the new network bandwidth that gives a super fast broadband-like connection to mobile devices.

He added, “I am calling for urgent action and I am prepared to take this case of discrimination as far as necessary to achieve equality in network coverage across Newry and Mourne.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=24118

Posted by on Oct 22 2012. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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