Tower fault.

[Alex_Evans]

Hi everybody, just wondering, what’s the longest any of you have waited for EE to fix a broken tower in your area?

I live in rural Wales and, admittedly, signal is patchy on all networks out here. But we used to be blessed with really good 4G provided by EE.

Unfortunately, at the end of September 2024, our signal started getting very weak whenever it rained. Then, in December 2024, we lost signal altogether.

EE had promised a resolution by mid-February 2025. This then slipped to mid-to-late May 2025. That has now come and gone, with still no sign of a fix.

I’d be interested to know if anybody else has experience waiting for EE to fix towers in rural locations, and whether they ever actually get around to it.

I’ve been an EE customer for a long time, but I would absolutely consider switching networks if any others covered this area, unfortunately, they don’t.

Alex

[bristolian]

There's no differential between "urban" & "rural" sites in terms of importance or one being more worthy of quick repairs than others. It can work both ways.

The vast majority of faults are rectified quite quickly, but sometimes there can be delays. Not an exhaustive list, but there could be access, legal or third party issues. These can often be incredibly frustrating for all parties, and it wouldn't be unusual for the resolution to lie outside EE's direct control.

[Alex_Evans]

Hi Bristolian,

I can only imagine the main difference is in urban areas is there are more towers so signal is unlikely to be completely lost, just weaker coming from a tower further away.

the main problem we’re having is there is a very large area with absolutely no signal. Although I’m not fully aware how the system, it is my understanding that in this area , there is one master tower that supplies several subservient towers, and the fault lies with the master tower. Hence casting a large area completely without signal.

I’m aware there may be manufactures outside of EE control in the resolution of this problem however communication to their customers is within EE control.  If they had no clear path to a resolution for middle of February I promise it? Again if there was still no clear path to a solution, why promise a fix by the middle of May?

Alex

[bristolian]

A pleasant change to have a reasoned query about such things!

Yes - in urban areas there tends to be more overlap between sites, so single-site outages tend to cause a reduction in perceived coverage, or perhaps slower data speeds. In rural areas, there is less overlap.

The "master tower" comment could be alluding to a link fault, where one site could have the direct backhaul link to the core network, and additional sites have (usually) a microwave line-of-sight link back to it - rather than a fibre link directly. In mountainous areas such as the Highlands, Snowdonia and similar, this would not be unusual to concentrate high-capacity links at one location and use LOS solutions from there.

You then start opening an unpleasant can of worms with the complications if - just by means of example - there's a H&S issue at the hub site, preventing tower climbs or site access.

[Tom984]

Hi Alex

This sounds very similar to a problem I’m having with ee. I think it is the same problem as the timescales you have been given sound remarkably familiar.

It is so frustrating as the signal I had before the problems was great, was running my home internet on a 4g plan. I now have potential security issues as I have security cameras  running on 4g data plans that are now completely useless without a 4g signal.

[Christopher_G]

Hi @Alex_Evans and @Tom984 

Welcome to the community.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having some issues in your respective areas. Our engineers will be working hard to restore service as soon as possible.

The best thing I can advise is to make sure you're registered for updates on our Network Status Checker. 

If you need any more information around what the problem is, our technical support team may be in a position to share that with you.

Chris

[Alex_Evans]

Hi Chris

Thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify, I’m already registered for updates via your network status checker, although I haven’t received a single update since October 2024.

In the meantime, I’ve been calling your support team once a month for a little catch up.

I’ve also contacted the EE executive team directly by email.  Ironically, when they attempted to call me back to discuss the matter, I had no signal due to the very issue I am trying to resolve.  Apparently, they only attempt to call twice before closing the loop…..and after three days, I’m still waiting for another attempt.

This has become incredibly frustrating. I’d really appreciate it if someone could take ownership of this issue and help ensure it’s properly followed up. We’re not just chasing updates — we’re chasing a basic connection to the outside world.

Alex

[bristolian]

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@Alex_Evans wrote:

I’d really appreciate it if someone could take ownership of this issue and help ensure it’s properly followed up.

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What makes you sure this is not already the case? CS are a gateway into the networks organisation who manage all extended outages.

[Alex_Evans]

@bristolian We’re in the 9th month since the problem started and we’ve be 6 months with no signal at all, you’re trying to tell me that someone’s taking ownership and pushing to resolve it!  If so I’d like their job, sound like a right good craic!  

[bristolian]

The timescales you've quoted are not at all unusual if you have a protracted issue with multiple dependencies. I've known examples where an existing structure (both rooftop & greenfield tower) has been condemned, and a new site build has been needed to provide long-term resolution.

I'm not saying it is the reason in this case, but an illustrative example. There are occasions when magic wands don't exist!