Western Isles

WESTERN Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil is calling on mobile operators EE and Vodafone to have a staffing presence in the Outer Hebrides who can be available to assist with the care and maintenance of equipment.

Mr MacNeil said: ‘Mobile operator giants EE and Vodafone currently do not employ staff in our islands.

‘I am calling on EE and Vodafone and all major mobile operators to look seriously at recruiting staff who can be stationed in our islands to help fix problems when they occur.

‘Outages should be repaired within hours but currently we are in the position where some faults take weeks or months to be repaired. BT employs engineers on our islands and they are on hand quickly to repair faults.

‘We are reliant on our mo- bile phones and operators must take seriously their commitment to customer care and employ staff in our islands. I will be writing to EE and Vodafone in addition to highlighting this at Westminster to Ed Vaizey, Minister of State for Culture, Media and Sport.’