Royal Wootton Bassett: Hundreds plunged into signal blackout

A property developer that owns Grove Farm, off of Bincknoll Lane, which contained the two telecoms masts, took them down in early December to make way for the construction of 10 new houses that have been planned for a number of years. 

But, as the major service providers for mobile signal in the area, their removal has caused issues for hundreds of people, as well as local businesses, especially as no replacement masts have been installed yet.

Planning permission from Wiltshire Council is not needed to remove masts, but the local authority does need to provide planning permission for new ones. 

There have been two planning applications for replacement telephone masts in that area.

There is a planning application for a telecoms mast in the indicated area off of Bincknoll Lane, but it has not yet been approved by Wiltshire Council (Image: Wiltshire Council)

The first, submitted in May 2022 by telecoms company Cornerstone, was heavily objected to by residents and was supposed to have a decision in September of that year but is still under consideration now. 

The other, also objected to, from telecoms company MBNL on behalf of Three and EE, was submitted on September 9, 2020, and was greenlit in December of that year, based on prior approval of another application made in 2017.

Construction of this mast appears to have started in January.

Approval for a telecoms mast in the indicated area here, off Bincknoll Lane, was given in 2020 (Image: Wiltshire Council)

The end result is that the entire town is effectively in communication darkness with customers of the four major mobile networks - Three, O2, Vodafone, and EE as well as the smaller networks that all use their infrastructure - reporting no signal or hardly any signal. 

Michelle Stock has highlighted how this is having a real impact on her and her job.  

"I'm a support worker and when we are in the area neither our personal nor work mobiles (different networks) work properly. It makes doing our notes, and accessing details complicated and hard," she said. 

Elizabeth Graney added that she had real safety concerns about not being able to use her phone to call for help in an accident or emergency. 

She said: "I am with O2 and disabled. Most of the time I have no signal now in and around Royal Wootton Bassett. If I was to fall I am not sure how I would potentially get help if I didn't have my husband or daughter with me."

And it looks like these issues are set to continue for some time as Vodafone and O2 have told customers they're hoping to have fixed things by March, and Three has said it is hoping to go live with a new mast in the 'coming months'. 

Many people have complained to their providers, with some offered free contract cancellation and others given compensation.

An aerial view of the Grove Farm area where the two masts initially were, and the area to the north of that, off Bincknoll Lane, where at least one, but possibly two, masts will be built. (Image: Google Maps)

A spokesperson for Three said they 'understood' how important it was for residents and businesses in Royal Wootton Bassett to have a reliable network experience.

But added: "Unfortunately, of our two sites in the immediate area: one has had to be decommissioned because of building development, and a replacement site is being built, while the neighbouring site is experiencing issues.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this caused. We have now restored our 3G service and hope to have our usual network performance fully restored soon.”  

A spokesperson for O2 had less to say but did offer an apology. 

“We apologise to residents of Royal Wooten Bassett for the temporary loss of service. We are working to get a new mast in the area as soon as possible.”

Vodafone and EE were approached for comment but did not respond. 

Wiltshire Council was approached for comment but said this was a problem for the telecoms companies.