By Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, TRAI
Over the past decade, India has seen a remarkable digital transformation. With among the world’s lowest mobile data tariffs and the highest levels of data consumption, digital connectivity has become central to economic growth, governance, and social inclusion. India’s digital economy contributes nearly 12% to its GDP and is expected to account for almost one-fifth of its GDP by 2029-30, growing at a pace almost twice that of the economy’s.
This trajectory reflects a simple but critical truth: the quality and reliability of digital infrastructure will increasingly shape economic productivity and citizen outcomes.
Yet, a paradox persists. While outdoor networks have expanded rapidly, the moment a user steps into a home, office, hospital, mall, or public building, connectivity often deteriorates. Calls drop, data speeds fall, and digital services become unreliable. It reflects a structural gap in how our built environment is designed.
The challenge will intensify as India transitions to 5G and 6G networks. These technologies rely increasingly on mid- and high-band spectrum to deliver high data rates. These frequencies weaken significantly when passing through walls, glass, or dense building materials. In a country where digital access is mobile-based rather than fibre-centric indoors, poor in-building connectivity risks diluting the benefits of next-generation networks.
The scale of the issue is unambiguous. Industry assessments consistently show that nearly 80% of mobile data consumption occurs indoors, particularly in urban areas. Buildings are no longer passive physical structures; they are integral to the digital ecosystem. From remote work and online education to telemedicine, digital payments, and emergency services, dependable indoor connectivity has become essential infrastructure.
Traditionally, utilities such as water and electricity are brought to the building boundary, while internal distribution is planned as part of construction. Digital connectivity must follow the same principle. Yet many buildings lack basic provisions such as multi-operator mobile coverage, properly planned and distributed antenna systems for mobile signals, and Wi-Fi layouts, cable pathways, fibre conduits, and equipment rooms. The outcome is predictable, dead zones in basements and lifts, weak signals in apartments, and unreliable connectivity in offices.
In some cases, exclusive arrangements with a single service provider further restrict consumer choice and degrade user experience for subscribers of other networks. These challenges cannot be resolved through ad-hoc measures. Digital connectivity within buildings must be deliberately engineered, with shared and non-discriminatory access for all service providers. Neutral-host infrastructure, widely adopted in several countries, offers a proven model. A well-designed distributed antenna system and structured indoor Wi-Fi network can dramatically improve user experience while avoiding duplication and inefficiency.
Recognising this systemic gap, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) submitted comprehensive recommendations to the government on the Rating of Buildings and Areas for Digital Connectivity in 2023. The ministry of communications has accepted and referred them to ministries and departments like the ministry of housing and urban affairs, the Bureau of Indian Standards, and the ministry of rural development for integration into building by-laws, codes, and development frameworks.
The underlying idea is straightforward yet powerful: digital connectivity readiness must become a measurable and visible attribute of buildings, like safety, structural integrity, or energy efficiency.
The Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity Regulations, 2024, introduce a star rating framework that evaluates buildings on objective parameters like non-discriminatory access for multiple service providers, quality of mobile and wired broadband performance, deployment of engineered indoor mobile and Wi-Fi coverage solutions, and resilience and reliability of digital infra. This framework isn’t merely regulatory compliance; it provides a blueprint for designing and retrofitting future-ready buildings.
For the first time, homebuyers, tenants, businesses, and institutions will be able to assess a building’s digital readiness through a clear and standardised rating. In an economy where connectivity underpins productivity, safety, and quality of life, such transparency is transformative.
Market experience shows information shapes behaviour. Just as energy-efficiency labels reshaped appliance choices and green-building ratings influenced construction practices, digital connectivity ratings can create powerful market incentives for developers to invest in robust infra. Buildings with higher ratings are likely to attract higher occupancy, stronger valuations, and greater trust from users. Over time, this transparency can shift digital connectivity from an afterthought to a competitive differentiator in real estate and infrastructure development.
The government, as the largest builder, owner, and manager of public assets, is uniquely positioned to lead this transition. In the past, public-sector adoption of green-building practices played a catalytic role in mainstreaming sustainability across the construction industry. Digital connectivity-ready buildings are even more pervasive and warrant similar leadership.
Integrating digital connectivity ratings into public projects, municipal by-laws, and procurement norms, across government departments, and public sector projects and public-private partnerships can accelerate adoption. States and urban local bodies can play a critical role by embedding these principles into building approvals and development regulations. As consumer awareness grows, the private sector will follow, recognising that robust indoor connectivity is essential.
India stands at a pivotal moment in its digital journey. As the digital society and digital economy expand and networks evolve, the quality of indoor connectivity will increasingly define user experience, service reliability, and economic outcomes. Buildings that lag risk becoming weak links in India’s digital ecosystem.
TRAI’s recommendations and the digital connectivity rating framework offer a credible, transparent, and forward-looking pathway to address this challenge. By engineering connectivity into buildings, we can ensure that Digital India does not stop at the building entrance.