Anger over weeks-long disruption to Uig mobile signal - BBC

A mobile telephone work relied upon by a Hebridean assemblage for calls and online services has been down for astir 5 weeks, accidental islanders.

Uig successful Lewis has nary alternate mobile supplier oregon broadband connections.

The work from communications elephantine EE is utilized by galore of the area's 400 residents, arsenic good arsenic the section GP country and superior school.

EE said the responsibility affecting its awesome successful Uig was analyzable and repairs had been hampered by atrocious weather.

Islanders said determination person been erstwhile times erstwhile the work had been disrupted, and not everyone had entree to a landline.

About 100 residents attended a nationalist gathering astir the existent concern connected Monday night.

Local businesswoman Stacey Macdonald said she was making 70-mile circular trips to entree net services successful Stornoway, but said others were incapable to bash the same.

She said galore radical were incapable to nonstop oregon person emails, oregon marque dependable calls and determination were concerns retained firefighters and coastguard volunteers were missing messages astir call-outs.

Mrs Macdonald added: "EE don't rather understand. When we accidental we person nary net they think: 'Awww, you won't get your Netflix subscription this month, what a shame'.

"They don't realise however overmuch we trust connected this service."

Western Isles SNP MSP Alasdair Allan, who attended Monday night's meeting, said astir radical successful Uig relied connected its 4G signal.

He said: "The section doctors country can't entree aesculapian notes, oregon marque them, and determination are difficulties penning prescriptions. People wanting to prime up a medicine are having to marque a 50-mile travel to the nearest alternate tract to bash so.

"The lone store successful the assemblage can't dispense currency and can't instrumentality paper payments, and the schoolhouse can't entree online materials."

EE said it was alert of an ongoing contented successful Uig.

A spokeswoman said: "Following atrocious weather, engineers volition beryllium connected tract again time and Thursday to transportation retired further work.

"We are truly atrocious for immoderate inconvenience caused. We recognize that this responsibility has been much analyzable and has taken longer to resoluteness than we would usually expect, but we are moving level retired to get work restored arsenic soon arsenic possible."