Debate contribution: Mobile Phone Coverage: West Belfast
Debate contribution by Ms Aisling Reilly on .
- MLA
- Ms Aisling Reilly
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 May 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Mobile Phone Coverage: West Belfast
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4964587
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Gabhaim buíochas le hÓrlaithí as an díospóireacht seo a chur osár gcomhair inniu.
While it might seem small to some, this is a huge issue. Poor or next to no phone signal is affecting far too many people in West Belfast. Time and time again, I have experienced daily blackout spots, calls dropping out, or no signal at all in areas of the Glen Road, Dermot Hill and the Whiterock Road — the list goes on. It is not just a poor service, but a complete lack of service. It is a failure by mobile networks, and a failure of accountability. We are told that we live in a digital age, yet many in my community feel that they are being left behind. That is why Sinn Féin's Paul Maskey, the MP for West Belfast, recently launched a survey. The response was overwhelming, not just in numbers but in frustration and genuine fear. As was previously referenced, yes, there has been vandalism on telecommunications infrastructure in the past year, which has worsened the issue. However, the issue goes back long before that, so the vandalism cannot be given as the sole reason. Over 55% of those who took part in the survey came from the Glen Road, Turf Lodge and Andersonstown areas, and 90% of people told us that their phone signal is either poor or non-existent, with 83% saying that they regularly experience dropped calls. People told us that they are missing calls from the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Mater Hospital, from their GPs and from hospitals that they have waited months to hear from. NHS workers are missing emergency call-outs, parents are unable to reach their children, elderly people are unable to ring for help, and self-employed painters, electricians and builders are missing out on vital work. One person who responded to the survey said, "I suffered a cardiac arrest last year, and now I am missing vital follow-up calls because my phone does not ring." We just cannot sit back and accept it when people are paying £50 or more a month for a signal that simply does not exist. It is not just about the inconvenience; it is about health and safety and about livelihoods. I thank the Minister for the Economy for being in the Chamber today to hear these concerns. We know that telecommunications policy and legislation is a reserved matter, but I ask her to raise the issue at every opportunity with her officials, the telecommunications regulator, mobile network operators and any other stakeholders that she engages with in Britain, because people deserve better services, particularly when they are paying for them.
440 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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