MSP complains to BT

Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has written to BT to raise concerns over a ”pitifully poor” phone service in the Crianlarich area.

Mr Crawford said he has been contacted by a number of villagers, including community councillors from the area, who had highlighted the scale of the issue.

There are concerns that the exchange point in the village is no longer fit for use.

Mr Crawford has called for BT to take urgent action to restore a reliable phone service for landline users to the Crianlarich area as soon as possible.

He said: “This simply isn’t good enough and residents are right to be frustrated. Customers loyally pay for their line rental and expect to receive a working service in return. On many occasions, this simply isn’t happening. One resident told me that he lost his connection eight times in one day. I have written to BT and hope to see a solution as soon as possible.”

Kenny Rattray, of the Crianlarich Hotel, told the Observer in September that his business had been hit by the line disruption.

He added: “The phone can be off five times in a week and customers who are calling in are often unaware there is a fault and they believe we are simply not answering. This leaves potential guests frustrated and most likely they will book elsewhere.”

At that time a BT Group spokesperson said they were investigating a power issue at the exchange

Yesterday (Thursday) BT again apologised for the interruptions to service and added: “Senior engineers have been working on the issue and have identified a piece of hardware in Crianlarich exchange responsible for the service interruptions.

“The hardware in question has been bypassed. The telephone exchange is now stable and we will continue to monitor it.

“As well as working to stabilise the current hardware we will be upgrading the exchange in early 2019 which will bring faster speeds and greater reliability.”