Mayo Senator calls for urgent action to address cellular blackspots across the county

Speaking at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, Senator Mark Duffy raised the issue of poor cellular coverage on roads and railways in Co Mayo.

“There are so many different areas where there is zero cellular connectivity. You hear providers claiming coverage of 99% and 99.9% and when I heard these numbers I thought ‘brilliant, we can finally make a call going from A to B’ and then you engage with a contract, but your line drops every time you’re on a roadway. This has been going on for maybe two decades where you have certain blackspots whether that’s a regional road or a national road. We talk about moving from 3G to 4G to 5G but cellular coverage is still non-existent in locations.”

Senator Duffy went on to ask where the responsibility for these blackspots lay. “Where is the failure? Is it political or is it in the private sector? What hope can be given to commuters and users in Co. Mayo that this will be addressed?”

George Merrigan, appearing on behalf of the Commission for Communication Regulation, explained that commercial providers operate under licence which includes service obligations and coverage requirements. The current licences issued in 2023 target 85% population coverage by 2026 rising to 92% by 2028 and 95% by 2030. This includes minimum coverage levels for roads.

Addressing coverage on roads and railways in particular, Senator Duffy pointed out that the obligation to provide that coverage “is being failed at the moment, it causes me frustration and it causes everyone frustration.” He went on to ask what the penalties are for providers that fail to comply with their licence requirements. “I think if they’re not offering proper coverage to customers who are affected by it, we need strong action on that.”

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