A new 5G mast is restoring much-needed mobile coverage in Lochgelly.
The mast went live on May 1 near the car park of Lochgelly Albert FC and was installed by Jet Infrastructure to address months of poor or non-existent signal following the destruction of the Virgin Media O2 mast on Bank Street.
The previous mast was destroyed by fire last September.
Richard Baker, MP, said: "This is great news and all credit to Jet who promised they would pull out all the stops to erect this new mast as quickly as possible.
"They were utterly professional and true to their word."
Residents first raised concerns with Mr Baker in February, reporting ongoing disruption and delays in restoring mobile services.
Mr Baker raised the issue with Virgin Media O2, who then engaged Jet Infrastructure to deliver a rapid solution.
He was joined by Cllr Linda Erskine at a meeting in Lochgelly with Jet just two days later.
Mr Baker said: "The issue was urgent because a huge number of people nowadays don’t own or use landlines.
"That led to many people complaining to me that they were unable to make contact in serious situations.
"Something had to be done quickly."
At the meeting, it became clear that identifying a suitable alternative site in the town centre was proving challenging.
Jet Infrastructure then identified the former site of a 20-metre mast near the football club, which still had an active power supply.
A planning application was filed the next day and unconditionally approved by Fife Council on March 25.
Mr Baker said: "During our meetings with Virgin Media O2 and Jet, they recognised how serious an issue this was and worked above and beyond to bring a mast back to the area.
"I’m glad to see the situation resolved and relieved that people in Lochgelly and surrounding areas can have confidence in being able to depend on having a mobile signal again."
The new Virgin Media O2-owned mast will also support other network providers.
Steven Verigotta of Virgin Media O2 said: "This has been a real team effort to restore connectivity for Lochgelly.
"From local representatives to Fife Council and our delivery partners, everyone recognised how urgent this was and worked together to get a solution in place quickly."
Gregor Ness of Jet Infrastructure also praised the collaboration with the community and local government.
Mr Ness said: "We’re grateful to our end customer Virgin Media O2 for putting their faith in us to rapidly resolve a very serious connectivity problem for the Lochgelly community and the surrounding area."
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