Long-running mobile signal issues continue in Welsh seaside town
Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter
A town councillor has called for urgent action to improve mobile phone coverage, saying residents, businesses, and visitors continue to face an unreliable signal across the town.
But a Senedd Member representing the area now says hope is on the horizon following the possibility of antennas soon becoming operational from a prominent location.
Cllr Gareth Probert, who represents the Gogarth Mostyn ward on Llandudno Town Council, said the current situation was not good enough and called on mobile network operators to invest in infrastructure.
“Far too many residents, businesses, and visitors across Llandudno continue to struggle with an unreliable and sometimes non-existent mobile signal,” he said.
“This is unacceptable in 2026, and it is time that mobile network operators urgently invest in Llandudno’s infrastructure so that the community finally receives the level of service it deserves.”
The comments follow ongoing concerns about mobile connectivity in parts of the Victorian resort, with Conwy County Council describing the issue as “longstanding”.
Last summer several businesses complained to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they were losing business, due to failing card payments.
Janet Finch-Saunders, the Senedd Member for Bangor Conwy Môn, hoped the issue could soon be resolved. Mrs Finch-Saunders said she had been in discussion with Mostyn Estates and mobile providers to try and resolve the situation.
The MS expressed hope that local coverage could soon improve, following Conwy County Council’s planning committee decision in June 2025 to allow mobile provider Cornerstone to install phone antennas on Venue Cymru’s roof.
“For too long the mobile signal has been virtually non-existent in the main shopping areas of Llandudno, with retailers and hospitality businesses affected by this in a very negative way,” she said.
“Being unable to take card payments is a massive problem, alongside visitors unable to download films, etc. It doesn’t help our businesses at all. Residents are also affected. After lengthy discussions with all mobile providers, Vodafone were the only ones to come forward with any meaningful proposals.
“Planning permission has been given for the masts to be sited on Venue Cymru, and they are moving forwards with these placements as we speak.” She added: “Vodafone are very aware of my haste to see this service much improved, and I will continue to see this through to a full resolution.”
In 2025 the council also said it was looking at a way around the issue and had signed “a non-exclusive agreement with a connectivity infrastructure provider in November 2024”. This agreement, the authority said, would potentially enable providers to use “small cell devices, a type of wireless communication infrastructure, on street lighting and other electrical assets owned by the council”.
The authority claimed this would allow mobile network operators to improve 4G and even 5G coverage across the county. The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Conwy County Council for a comment.
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I remember hiking in the desert in israel a few years back. 10 miles from a kibbutz, I received a high quality video call from my wife via the 5G network. Yet here in North wales, we barely get any 5G signal, or even at times, phone signal even in some towns. We are so far behind. I could mention developing nations in africa that has better signal than we do. This must be a massive drain on UK productivity