topic Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham in Mobile Network discussions

Coverage in Great Blakenham

Christopher_G — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:13:01 GMT

Update: 07 January 2026

Over the past few days, our engineers have completed the upgrade work on the mast to improve capacity and service in the area. Restoring full service to Great Blakenham.

We will continue to monitor performance in the area.

Update: 18 December 2025

Our engineers have had a slight delay completing the upgrades on the mast to improve capacity and service in the area. Barring any unforeseen delays, we expect to have all work completed by the middle of January.

We will keep you updated on this post.

Update: 11 December 2025

Over the past few weeks, our engineers have installed the microwave link needed for the transmission and integrated the mast onto the network. The new mast is now on-air, and to further improve coverage to the area, our engineers will be completing upgrades on the mast to increase capacity and improve service in Great Blakenham. We expect all work to completed by the end of next week.

We will continue to monitor performance in the area.

Update: 10 November 2025

Over the past few weeks, the power company has accessed the site and installed the power supply needed for the new mast. Our engineers will be completing surveys in the next week to make sure the equipment will be suitable for a microwave link to be installed, to supply transmission to the mast. Pending a positive outcome from the surveys, we can confirm an approximate on-air date for the new mast.

We will keep you updated on this post

Update: 22 October 2025

Our engineers are working with the power company to arrange a date to access the area and install the power supply and transmission needed for the new mast. Once the power supply has been installed, we can start integrating the mast onto the network.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect all work to be completed and the mast to be on-air by the end of 2025.

We will keep you updated on this post.

We are in the process of replacing a mast in the Great Blakenham area as the current lease has expired.

Our engineers have completed building the equipment for the new mast. The next step is for power and transmission to be installed. Once complete, we will be able to share an approximate on-air date.

We'll update this post once we have more information.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience. In the meantime, you might be able to use Wi-Fi Calling to make and receive calls and texts.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

FixItDik — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:37:44 GMT

Thanks Christopher, any idea how long that will take please? I think the lease ran out over a week ago as we have been without mobile service since at least the 4th of the month and I am not always in range of my WiFi (for example when I walk the dog)

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

arjones114 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:38:23 GMT

Can you please confirm anticipated timeframe? I am not asking for promise or guarantee, but are we talking hours, days, weeks or months?

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

DuncanBroatch — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:42:17 GMT

Hi Chris, thanks for the post. I am a little surprised by the lack detail around this mast replacement. Was it not planned? We have gone from good reliable signal to poor and intermittent signal just when we needed it most for keeping in touch re. healthcare issues. Having spoken to EE support we are left wondering whether we should switch providers if details on resolution are not forthcoming in a timely manner. Wi-Fi calling is not proving to be a resilient alternative either. Any further updates, even indicative would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

beebo1 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:53:40 GMT

I, too, would have appreciated knowing about any Wi-Fi service disruptions - anywhere - particularly for such a lengthy period! There does not appear to have been a plan in place by EE to provide a temporary solution, such as a 'patch' to avoid such disruption, although you knew about it in advance. EE has put me in a precarious financial position by doing so, as well as jeopardising my own personal safety.
My phone has been unable to access EE's network for at least 4 days now. I cannot reliably dial out at any time of the night or day, and is unreasonable of EE to force its customers to wait so patiently for days on end with no respite, and to endure such a long wait indefinitely, with no notification, although EE anticipated it!
The last update to me was an email communication the 18th of October, and this being the late afternoon of the 20th, I would like to know exactly when service will be restored, as was requested by other respondents here. I do not consider it unreasonable to ask for a timely response to that question. I expect reliable communication in this day and age. It is vital, and certainly not an unreasonable expectation.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

bristolian — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:17:20 GMT

@arjones114 wrote:
Can you please confirm anticipated timeframe? I am not asking for promise or guarantee, but are we talking hours, days, weeks or months?

This will be a new site build.

@DuncanBroatch wrote:
I am a little surprised by the lack detail around this mast replacement. Was it not planned? ... Having spoken to EE support we are left wondering whether we should switch providers if details on resolution are not forthcoming in a timely manner.

Scenarios such as this happen on all networks from time-to-time, it's never an ideal situation but is sometimes unavoidable. One difference is that EE are quite open on this forum about these cases, which makes a noticeable difference to some other operators who might only disclose such detail reactively.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

beebo1 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:18:22 GMT

How long is a new site build?

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

bristolian — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:27:56 GMT

Every site is different, and whilst I understand your reasons for asking, it's impossible to say. I'd recommend following the update on this thread

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

beebo1 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:48:36 GMT

What exactly does that mean? Are you privy to helpful information or not? Following the update on this thread has produced nothing. and we are all sitting here waiting for timely information, of which there has been nothing useful.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Mel149 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:39:37 GMT

We are in Claydon and have had on off phone signal and 5G since the beginning of October and now cannot send or receive any phone calls, texts or 5G. This is not acceptable with no explanation or warning. I phoned EE and they have said the mast has been decommissioned. Surely they would have had advanced warning of this.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

djpott23 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:51:15 GMT

Hi, I had a text saying the problem was fixed. It’s definitely not fixed. Restarted all devices and still no signal.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Mel149 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:27:53 GMT

Me too, there doesn't seem to be any information on when it will be fixed either.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

arjones114 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:40:42 GMT

I didn't get the text. Probably because I have no signal 😛

I really would like some indication as to when it's going to be fixed, as otherwise I will need to go to a different network. This is not sustainable.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Shonarik — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:48:48 GMT

Will customers be receiving a significant refund. I've been without any phone at all, no landline, for over a week. I can't call anyone so haven't even been able to speak to doctors trying to contact me. It's absolutely ridiculous. I reported the issue and was told there wasn't one, when clearly there was.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

DuncanBroatch — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 21:06:52 GMT

You need to ring EE on 150 and demand compensation. I doubt they will offer it.

Been very happy with EE up until recent ridiculous experience over Broadband performance which turned out to be a router issue and now this ……. Just not acceptable!

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

DuncanBroatch — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 21:13:34 GMT

Can we be open and share timescales then please. I worked in IT and telecomms 37 years and was not aware of such lack of planning / succession.

Let’s just set some expectations on resolution shall we? People need to know what alternative arrangements they need to make. We have vulnerable elderly in the village and parents of newly borns who rely on mobile comms partly due to letting go of our secure ‘legacy’ fixed line phones.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Unhappy1234 — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 05:51:47 GMT

This work had to be planned and no prior warning has been given which is ridiculous!

We run a construction business and work from home this has caused us significant problems, We need answers, time scales and compensation.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

arjones114 — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:54:21 GMT

So my take is this:

The lack of notice, combined with the fact this only appears to come to light after we have raised the issue, indicates that someone (or some people) at EE haven’t done what they should have. Basically, it’s been overlooked or missed. And we’re paying the price.
The lack of any form of time indication for resolution implies this is going to take weeks to fix. If it were hours or days, they would say so.

Therefore I think we all need to look at other suppliers. We cannot wait an unknown period for an essential service. If you’re mid-contract, EE are now in breach and you can simply cancel without penalty.

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Mcorble — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 07:48:15 GMT

I was told by EE customer services that 3 different masts were down in the area, making the problem that much worse, not just the one, and this is also affecting the Three network also which has been down the exact same time. Seems a few different reasons are being thrown out there

Re: Coverage in Great Blakenham

Mcorble — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 07:50:10 GMT

Are you talking about a new power supply to a new mast location? That would take weeks