We are often told that mobile phone coverage in the village isn’t very good: so we’d like to know how good – or bad – your mobile phone signal is at home.
North Huish Parish Council is concerned that the official coverage maps for this area are neither accurate nor detailed enough to show the true extent of mobile phone coverage in Avonwick. Since February 2020 we have run a survey to find out what signal parishioners can actually detect in Avonwick, and we hope to use the results of this survey to lobby for better signal from the main mobile phone providers in the parts of the village which really need it.
We would like this survey to be filled in by as many people as possible, as everyone’s phone is slightly different.
Click here to complete our surveyThe background to this survey
Avonwick has always had a poor mobile telephone signal. This used to be a casual inconvenience, but we are concerned that companies increasingly rely on customers having a working mobile telephone, which may turn poor signal into a genuine disadvantage: for example, banks may insist on sending text messages to confirm online transactions.
Ofcom’s official coverage database reckons that most of the village can get a mobile signal outside their house, but that few can get a signal inside. You can check this for your specific postcode at checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage.
This map shows Ofcom’s official indoor coverage estimate from all the main networks combined across Avonwick:
It’s obvious that large parts of the village officially have no indoor coverage, but also that much of the village is listed as having a ‘possible chance’ of a signal.
However, anecdotal evidence suggests that Ofcom’s estimates are optimistic, with no signal available even outdoors in parts of the village. By contrast, some houses with ‘no coverage’ can get a signal somewhere inside – even if it’s an inconvenient spot.
What we are trying to find out
North Huish Parish Council would like to find out how realistic the ‘official’ coverage is and, in particular, find out just how much of a ‘possible chance’ villagers really have of getting a mobile telephone signal. We want to find the places where official coverage is optimistic, where there is better signal than might be expected, and which networks offer the best chance of a signal.
We want this information to be as detailed and accurate as possible. If there is any chance of persuading the mobile telephone providers to improve the signal in Avonwick, it will be easier to persuade them if we have clear, honest evidence to back up the need for improvement.
What we will do with this data
We will record the signal strength at each address where the survey is completed and use this to plot the typical real-world signal strength across the village.
We will publish results of this survey in general terms on our website – we won’t, for example, reveal which specific mobile telephone network is used at each house in the village, but we will be able to give an overview of signal strength in different parts of the village.
If the survey reveals a persistant problem with signal for a particular network, we will use the survey data to back-up requests to the network to improve the signal.
Only if you agree that we may do so during the survey, we may contact you to find out more about the signal at your address if we need further information.
The data will be held in accordance with our Privacy Notice and the principles of the GDPR.
Click here to complete our survey