The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright MP
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

Our Ref: NE40448 19 June 2019

Mobile mast located on the land near Corner Farm, Padiham Road, Sabden, BB7 9EX

I am contacting you regarding a longstanding issue in the village of Sabden in my constituency, a village that is effectively a ‘dead-zone’ for mobile signal. Living in the neighbouring village of Pendleton I know first-hand the problems facing the local businesses and residents in Sabden who are totally reliant on a landline to run their business and personal affairs. I am growing concerned that with emphasis on the national 5G rollout, Sabden is getting left behind and forgotten about.
 

Clarke Telecom, a Manchester based provider of 4G mast technology, built a new mobile phone mast almost a year ago, but the mast is still not live. The four partners involved in the project, Clarke Telecoms, Vodafone, O2 and Cornerstone Consultants, are unable to answer simple questions posed about why the mast is not live. Nobody is being informed of why the mast is still switched off, and some residents believe that many other masts across the UK are in the same predicament. Vodafone and O2 have continued to kick the can down the road and have provided feeble answers to the serious questions posed by Local Council, Ricky Newmark, simply stating that ‘work has to be completed on all our masts’. I am seriously frustrated that after almost a year the mast cannot be switched on, this mast is needed to serve the 1,500 residents of Sabden.
 

I would be grateful for your intervention in gaining some clear knowledge of why the mast has not yet been switched on, and when it is expected to be live.
 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully;

Nigel Evans MP