At a time when India’s digital ambitions are increasingly shaped by the quality of everyday connectivity, indoor network experience has emerged as a critical yet under-addressed challenge.
In this conversation, Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), offers a detailed explanation of the regulator’s Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity Regulations, 2024—a landmark initiative aimed at making buildings digitally ready by design rather than by retrofit.
Speaking with Anoop Verma, Lahoti discusses why poor indoor connectivity persists despite widespread outdoor coverage, how high-frequency 4G and 5G signals are affected by modern construction, and how TRAI’s new rating framework seeks to guide developers, inform consumers, and future-proof India’s built environment. The conversation also explores implementation mechanisms, stakeholder coordination, and the long-term implications of treating digital connectivity as a core urban utility.
Edited Excerpts:
TRAI has introduced the Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity Regulations, 2024 to address poor indoor connectivity. Could you explain the core rationale behind this framework and why TRAI has prioritised this issue now?
This is a very important initiative of TRAI. Telecom service providers are responsible for creating outdoor network infrastructure, and today outdoor coverage is largely available across the country. However, the moment a building is constructed, a distinct indoor environment is created. Signals generated by outdoor networks get significantly affected when they pass through walls, glass, and other construction materials. As a result, people experience poor call quality and low data speeds indoors, even though outdoor coverage may be good. It therefore becomes essential to address this gap so that the indoor experience is comparable to the outdoor experience.
Another important question is consumer awareness. When a consumer buys a flat, rents an office or a shop, or uses any premises, how does one know in advance what quality of digital connectivity will be available inside the building? The rating framework provides a simple, consumer-friendly star-based index that enables people to understand the quality of digital connectivity they can expect inside a built environment.
Estimates suggest that over 80 per cent of mobile data consumption happens indoors, while high-frequency 4G and 5G signals weaken significantly inside buildings. How does the regulation address these technological and architectural challenges?
With the rollout of 4G and 5G, we are increasingly using mid-band and high-frequency spectrum, including millimetre-wave bands. While these bands offer higher bandwidth and data capacity, they suffer significant attenuation when signals pass through walls, glass, and other construction materials. This leads to poorer indoor performance compared to legacy low-frequency bands.
The solution lies in deploying in-building digital infrastructure. This includes distributed antenna systems that ensure signals are generated and distributed inside the building itself. For this to happen effectively, buildings must be designed with proper ducts, cable pathways, resilient layouts, backup power arrangements, alternate routing, and provisions for future expansion. These are precisely the issues the rating framework seeks to address at the design and construction stage.
The regulations introduce a property rating for digital connectivity. What criteria and metrics do Digital Connectivity Rating Agencies use to assess buildings?
The regulations lay down clearly defined, objective criteria. These include compliance with the Model Building Bye-Laws and the National Building Code, with respect to digital connectivity infrastructure. They also examine the availability of power infrastructure for digital services, including redundancy and backup arrangements.
Another important aspect is resilience—whether the digital infrastructure has alternate paths and can withstand adverse events such as flooding without major disruption. Future readiness is also assessed, including the ability to upgrade infrastructure as technology evolves.
Equally important is non-discriminatory access for multiple service providers, so that consumers can receive services from all operators. Finally, actual service performance and user experience are evaluated. All these factors together determine the final rating.
What categories of properties are covered under the framework? Are there different benchmarks based on use cases or expected digital needs?
The framework covers all categories of buildings because digital connectivity is required everywhere. Broadly, we have classified buildings into two categories. Category A includes buildings where Model Building Bye-Laws are directly applicable, such as residential buildings, commercial complexes, offices, institutional buildings, and government offices.
Category B includes properties such as airports, railway stations, bus terminals, stadiums, metro systems, expressway corridors, and similar public-use infrastructure, where building bye-laws are less relevant. In these cases, greater weightage is given to actual user experience because of the high volume of public usage.
TRAI has registered Digital Connectivity Rating Agencies to operationalise this framework. What are the criteria for their empanelment, and how will consistency and quality be ensured?
TRAI has registered 20 Digital Connectivity Rating Agencies. The empanelment criteria are well defined. The agency must be a registered company or limited liability partnership with at least two years of experience in relevant fields such as in-building solutions, telecom infrastructure deployment or maintenance, or quality-of-service assessment. They must have qualified professionals not only in telecommunications, but also in civil and electrical engineering. Additionally, the agency must be ISO-certified for its quality management system.
A detailed rating manual has been issued, which all agencies must follow. We are also developing a digital connectivity rating platform that will cover the entire lifecycle—from application to evaluation and final rating. All assessments must be supported by documentary and technical evidence. TRAI retains the authority to audit agencies whenever required to ensure compliance and credibility.
How will TRAI ensure that developers and property managers integrate robust digital infrastructure from the planning stage itself?
Provisions already exist in the National Building Code and the Model Building Bye-Laws issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. These act as guiding principles. TRAI has suggested further enhancements to these provisions, which have been accepted by the Department of Telecommunications and referred to the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for implementation.
The core principle of the regulation is that digital connectivity infrastructure should be treated as a core building utility, similar to electricity or water distribution. Just as buildings have planned internal electrical distribution, they must also planned internal digital signal distribution. In parallel, we are running extensive stakeholder education programmes. As consumer awareness increases, market demand itself will become a powerful driver for adoption.
How is TRAI working with telecom service providers to ensure that property ratings translate into real improvements in indoor coverage?
The regulations and our recommendations provide that every building should be equipped with an in-building solution. This can be deployed by a neutral entity that provides non-discriminatory access to all telecom service providers. Such entities may include infrastructure providers, digital connectivity infrastructure providers, or even telecom service providers themselves, as long as access is fair and open.
For service providers, this is a self-motivating arrangement. Better in-building infrastructure improves customer experience and satisfaction, which is clearly in their interest. Consumers benefit from better service, and providers benefit from happier customers. It is a win-win model.
High-frequency 4G and 5G bands suffer significant indoor penetration loss. How does the framework address this, and what role do in-building solutions play?
Signal attenuation is inevitable when radio waves travel through construction materials. To overcome this, signals are first brought to the building periphery using fibre, fixed wireless access, or radio equipment. From there, they are distributed throughout the building via a structured in-building network.
This approach ensures that mobile signals from all service providers, as well as fixed broadband signals, are available uniformly across the building. Once signals are properly distributed internally, indoor connectivity issues are resolved. This is a problem many people face even in high-value homes and offices, and in-building solutions are the most effective answer.
Are there plans to incorporate future technologies such as 5G-Advanced, 6G readiness, or satellite broadband into the rating criteria?
The rating framework is deliberately technology-agnostic. It focuses on fundamental infrastructure elements such as ducts, cable pathways, telecom equipment rooms, power redundancy, alternate fibre routes, and fibre-based distribution. Future readiness is explicitly recognised in the scoring system. Infrastructure must be capable of supporting future frequency bands and upgrades in both wireless and wireline technologies. This ensures that buildings remain relevant as technology evolves.
Consumers are a key stakeholder in this initiative. What is TRAI’s strategy to build awareness among consumers, developers, and industry stakeholders?
Awareness is absolutely critical because this is a new initiative. We have conducted workshops for central ministries, public sector undertakings, state governments and their PSUs, real estate regulatory authorities.
We are also organising consumer awareness programmes through TRAI’s regional offices across the country. In addition, we are engaging with engineering colleges, universities, and architectural institutions so that future professionals internalise these principles early.
We are working closely with industry bodies such as CREDAI, the Consulting Engineers Association, and the Indian Institute of Architects. These awareness programmes will continue so that all stakeholders clearly understand the framework and its benefits.
