Residents in parts of Keswick say they have been without a mobile phone signal for two weeks.
And their patience has now snapped, after learning that work to repair the fault may not be completed for at least another fortnight.
The fault has downed the O2 and Vodafone networks, affecting dozens of residential properties and businesses in and around the western end of Penrith Road.
According to the companies concerned, the problem is due to a faulty phone mast in the area – but frustration is growing at the lack of progress to fix it.
Local resident Ken Dover has been without a signal since early September.
He told the Reminder: “The O2 website said last week that the service would resume at 10pm on Thursday or Friday. Now it says there is a problem that their engineers are working on, and the site will be updated on October 7 – which would make it four weeks in total.
“Can you imagine if the mobile coverage was out of action in London for four minutes, never mind four weeks!”
Stephen Harris, who lives in Manor Park, accused the networks of “telling porkies” about the situation.
“This has been going on since a week last Thursday and every time I contact O2 they tell me they are aware of the problem and that engineers are on their way to sort it out.
“Then they turn round and say they might be able to give me some further updates by October 7. Meanwhile we’re stuck with no signal and no idea when and if they’re going to fix it.
“Do they have a shortage of engineers? Or is it simply a question of priorities, and Keswick is bottom of the list. It’s just not good enough.”
Stephen added: “I’m going on holiday to Italy this week. At least I’ll be able to get a signal there – but who knows whether I’ll get one when I get back.”
Vodafone user Ian Loosemore, of Keswick, has not been able to use his phone for over a fortnight.
‘’The latest I have been able to get from Vodafone is that ‘major repairs’ are needed, which is very ominous as previously they were just saying ‘some maintenance,’’’ he said.
‘’There is still no indication on when services may be resumed, all previous estimates having well expired.’’
According to the network service watchdog istheservicedown.com, there have been 46 outage reports and issues related to O2 from Keswick in the past 15 days, compared
to just 37 in Edinburgh and 34 in Belfast.
A message on the O2 website reads: “Looks like a phone mast near to you isn’t working as it should, sorry. Our engineers are on the case and making progress but your service might come and go until we fix it. We’ll update you by Friday 7th October 2022.”
O2 and Vodafone have been contacted for comment.
