No mobile coverage and dropped calls persist on rural routes - Mayo senator
ALMOST 30 years after mobile phone use became commonplace, non-existent coverage or dropped calls still dominates large swathes of the country, a Fine Gael Senator has said.
Senator Mark Duffy said the issue of poor mobile phone coverage, particularly on regional and national roads, prevails extensively across the country despite the claims of network providers.
The Mayo senator spoke at a recent sitting of the Arts, Media, Communications and Culture Committee, and said, for example, that Vodafone claims to have 99pc population coverage and Eir says it has 99.9pc.
“When I heard those numbers at first, I thought this was brilliant,” Senator Duffy said.
“I thought we would finally be able to make a phone call while going from A to B. But then you engage in a contract and the line drops every time you are on certain rural roads or on a train going across the country. And it is always in the same blackspots.
“In my own county of Mayo, coverage is particularly poor between Ballyvary and Turlough, Straide and sections of the N26 between Foxford and Ballina as well as along the R312 to Belmullet.
“From speaking to fellow Oireachtas members, it is clear this is a national issue with notorious blackspots right across the country.”
Senator Duffy listed some of the main mobile phone blackspot areas nationwide as:
* R159 Trim to Enfield road – zero coverage from Rathmoylan to Enfield in Meath
* N61 from Roscommon Town to Knockcrockery in Roscommon
* R380 Gort to Loughrea road between Killchreest village and Cahercrea in Galway
* R191 between Mullagh and Bailieborough – coverage patchy and virtually non-existant’ in Cavan.
* R772 at Brownswood outside Enniscorthy on the R772 in Wexford.
* N22 between Baile Mhúirne and Glenflesk in Cork and Kerry
* R336 Coast Road, Connemara, very poor in Indreabhán (Inverin) and in An Spidéal (Spiddal)’ in Galway
* N69 between Tralee and Listowel in Kerry
* R572 Glengariff to Castletownbere – the main artery through the Beara peninsula in west Cork with very poor coverage.
“We talk about moving from 3G to 4G and to 5G yet mobile coverage is still non-existent in locations,” he commented
“A town in a rural location may have a population of over 5,000 but when you travel to it you go through blackspots. Where is the failure?
“What hope can we offer commuters these blackspots will be addressed? There has been a total failure and it has been going on for decades.”
ComReg are the national regulatory authority for electronic communications services and networks.
At a recent Communications committee hearing, George Merrigan, appearing on behalf of ComReg, told the committee that existing licences require network providers to cover business and technology parks, hospitals, higher education campuses, air and seaports, trains and bus stations and the top visitor attractions, said Senator Duffy.
Asked if that obligation could be expanded to include all regional roads, all railways and all bus routes, Mr. Merrigan confirmed that ‘there is an obligation to provide coverage on roads in the current licences as well'.
Senator Duffy said this obligation is being failed.
“This has to be called out. It is a big issue, it has never been addressed, and it causes everyone frustration and we need strong action on it,” he said.
With existing service agreements due for review in 2026, Senator Duffy called for tougher action on providers that are failing to provide the levels of coverage required by those agreements.
“I think they should lose it (licence) if they are not offering proper coverage to customers who are affected by it.”