We Demand 4G for Frittenden

UPDATE - OFcom Apeal - O2

Original decision
Issue 1
Issue type: SERVICE QUALITY - Network coverage
Issue analysis:

I have looked at the information and evidence that you and O2 shared with me. You have both had an opportunity to comment on this evidence and I’ve seen that too. Taking all of this into consideration, along with industry standards, best practices, relevant legislation and the rules set by the regulator, I’m ready to make a recommendation to resolve your complaint.

As I understand it, your complaint relates to your network coverage. I will summarise what both parties have told us before setting out my findings.

You tell us you have had mast issues in your area for some time even though O2’s coverage map showed there was good coverage in your area. You say you have written to O2’s CEO and your MP, but a resolution has not been agreed and you have now received a deadlock letter.

To resolve the complaint, you would like o2 to place a mast back into your village, and provide a network service.

O2 says you contacted the CEO on 14 October 2019 to complain about the coverage in your home area, and that you told it you had contacted your MP and were unhappy the network checker on Ofcom’s website was inaccurate as it shows there is a tick, which you haven’t found to the be the case. O2 states you also told it the outcome of a conversation you had with Ofcom.

It tells us that after investigating your complaint, it advised engineers are aware of a lack of coverage in your local area, which is compounded by the terrain issues and high trees in the area. However, it states it advised there was a recent network upgrade to a mast 8km away from you to give wider coverage and although 2G coverage was good, it could only minimally improve 3G, and there was no capacity for 4G. It says it has added your area to a Poor Coverage Area register but that it has no immediate plans to carry out the work. It also disputes that a mast was switched off in your area.

Overall, O2 apologies for the poor experience you are having with the network and says it is aware of the lack of coverage in your location, but that it doesn’t guarantee coverage in all areas, and there are factors outside of its control that can affect this. It says the current level of coverage is the best it can offer and that the coverage checker is only a guide of the coverage offered. It has not proposed to take any further steps to resolve your complaint.

You responded to O2’s comments and asked how much funding it has received to improve rural mobile signal over the years and ask why yours is getting worse. You also say you do not consider it acceptable to say it’s not viable and refer to O2’s investment in 5G.

I will now set out my findings.

It is firstly important that I explain that our role as a service is to investigate complaints between individual customers and companies rather than to investigate a company as a whole.

I can see from your original complaint to O2 that you referred to conversations you had with Ofcom, going back to 2015 which was about the information O2 gave regarding its network coverage. You have said that you don’t consider the information O2 provides to be accurate and that Ofcom advised it would look to fine a provider when incorrect data is provided. You told O2 you wanted it to update its coverage map as if it is not done, you presume Ofcom will fine it.

Having reviewed the coverage checker on Ofcom’s website, it does not provided details of calls indoors for O2 customers, but states customers may experience problems using 4G data indoors. It also says that O2 customers are likely to receive good coverage outdoors for calls, texts and data.

The checker also shows that for non 4G, O2 customers are likely to receive good coverage outdoors for voice and data, but does not provide information regarding the signal indoors.

Having compared this to O2’s coverage checker, it says you can expect the following:

2G – Good outdoors, OK indoors

3G – Good outdoors, Ok indoors, not bad for mobile broadband

4G – Good indoors and outdoors, good for mobile broadband

4G calling – Good indoors and outdoors, good for 4G calling.

However, the map next to this data, shows that where you live is on the edge of an area with good outdoor coverage only and an area with good indoor and outdoor coverage.

While I note you have said Ofcom advised the data it uses is provided by O2, its website says that it also conducts its own tests. Specifically, it states:

“Your map is different to the operators’ maps. Why?

Ofcom's map uses data from the mobile operators about how strong they think signal levels are at every location in the UK. Ofcom carried out field tests to measure the signal strength required for mobile calls to work reliably on commonly used handsets. Each mobile operator has a slightly different approach to displaying coverage on its own map, including assumptions on the handsets used, levels of call reliability and the expected signal loss when indoors or in car. Because Ofcom's map brings all of their data together in a single place and holds it to a single, independent standard, our map may display different levels of coverage than those seen on the operators' websites. Links to the operators' maps can be found here:

We update our map regularly (every month) and the mobile network operators update theirs, but there may be times when the maps are based on slightly different data and therefore show different coverage.”

It also goes on to say:

The map says that I should have good coverage but I’m not getting a reliable service. Why?

The mobile coverage map is based on coverage predictions from the mobile operators. These predictions are generated using computer programmes that simulate the way mobile signals travel from mobile masts and are blocked by obstructions such as hills, trees and buildings. Coverage can also be affected by the device that you are using.

Our own measurements of mobile signals in different parts of the UK have shown that the computer models are usually accurate, but can sometimes be wrong.

Predicting indoor and in car coverage is subject to large variations as signal loss can vary significantly depending on the materials used. The Ofcom map reflects a typical signal loss for a house or car, but in some cases the signal loss may be greater. For example, if you are in a basement or in a house with thick stone walls.

If you are experiencing problems with indoor coverage you may wish to consider some of the solutions that the mobile operators can offer. For example, all the main network operators now have solutions that allow calls to be made and received over Wi-Fi.

Even when a signal is available, you may experience problems making calls or accessing mobile data services. This is usually because of congestion, where lots of other people are using the network at the same time and you are sharing the capacity of the mobile mast with them.”

I therefore find that Ofcom’s checker uses its own analysis of coverage alongside that which O2 provides.

It is also important to note that O2’s coverage checker says it is a guide and does not guarantee signal coverage.

As our role is to investigate individual complaints between customers and consumer’s I would not be able to require O2 to make amendments to its coverage checker, as that would in my view, form part of reviewing the company as a whole, which would be a matter for Ofcom.

In respect of your individual complaint, I have to consider that the evidence provided shows the first business lines you took were opened in September 2012 and that additional lines have been added, and upgrades taken, since this time. The most recent being in July 2019 when you agreed to new contracts for four of your telephone lines, and took out a mobile broadband contract. As you have said you have been raising concerns with the network since 2015, I would have to find that you agreed to new contracts with O2, two of which were for 24 months, and the other three for 12 months, knowing that the signal in your area was not of the level you would have hoped to get.

I have also reviewed your bills from April 2019 to present to assess your usage from before and after you upgraded in July 2019. Having done so for each line, I find the usage was consistent both before and after you upgraded.

Having taken this into account, I would not require O2 to take any steps to resolve this part of your complaint.

Your complaint to O2 also said that an O2 mast that was in the village was removed as part of its restructuring programme and as part of the resolution to your complaint you wanted this to be put back.

O2 said that it had no record of a mast being removed, and it was later confirmed by you that it may have been an Orange mast.

While I acknowledge the reasons why you would want a mast put into your village, it would be outside of the remit of this service to require O2 to do this. This is because its engineering work, and the infrastructure it puts into any area, would form part of its legitimate commercial decision, which it is entitled to make and implement. It would again be the role of Ofcom as the regulator, to investigate how companies operate the services they provide. I will therefore not be able to require O2 to put a mast in your local area.

The next part of the complaint you made to O2 referred to grants and rural projects, and you refer to a legally binding deal from 2015 which was to resolve poor signal areas across Kent and the UK. You want this to be honoured.

For the same reasons as previously set out, this would not be something this service could require O2 to do. In my view only a court would be able to take steps to implement a legally binding deal, and Ofcom would be responsible for regulating O2 as a provider. I will therefore not be able to require O2 to do this.

My review of your complaint has found that on 14 October 2019, O2 said it would provide its response within five working days. However, it did not. You contacted it on 5 November 2019 to chase a response and it issued its deadlock letter on 7 November 2019. While this was within its regulatory timescales, I find it a shortfall in customer service that you were not updated to say it would take longer than five days for a response to be sent to you. I would require O2 to provide a written apology in respect of this.

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