O2 apologises to Tralee taxis for service breakdown
Taxi driver Brendan O’Sullivan said they had lost a lot of business and had taken “a lot of stick” from customers because no reception was available.
The reception black-outs occurred on May 11 and May 21, the second occasion being the night of the Champions League soccer final between Manchester United and Chelsea.
“All this was done without informing any of the taxi drivers,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“We had earlier dropped people into town, but they could not contact us later in the night to take them home again. Many people were very angry about this and we lost a lot of business. Up to 90% of my business comes through the phone.”
He said the night of the Champions League final was very busy in Tralee, with many people looking for taxis to get home.
“These people were depending on us and they felt very let down, even though it was not our fault they were unable to contact us,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
An O2 spokeswoman yesterday confirmed maintenance work was carried out on May 11 and May 21 in parts of Kerry in order to upgrade the network.
She said the work was essential and was carried out outside normal business so to have minimum impact to businesses in Kerry.
“O2 acknowledges that taxi companies operating outside office hours were affected and wishes to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the spokeswoman added.
Meanwhile, planning permission has been granted for the retention of telecommunications masts in three areas of Co Kerry, following appeals to An Bord Pleanála.
The masts are in the Castlegregory, Glenflesk and Glencar areas and will remain in place for another five years, after appeals by a phone companies were granted.
All three applications for retention had been refused by Kerry County Council, which has a controversial rule in its county development plan banning such masts within a kilometre of houses, schools and other residential buildings.
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