The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) releases Regulations namely “Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity Regulations, 2024 “. The full text of the Regulations is available on TRAI’s website at www.trai.gov.in.
To provide policy and regulatory trigger, for addressing the issue of quality of digital connectivity inside buildings, the Authority has submitted recommendations to the Government on “Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity” on 20th February 2023. The recommendations are aimed to create an ecosystem for co-creations of Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) as a part of any development activity. Further, for enabling co-creation of DCI in Buildings or Areas, the Authority has recommended to include DCI development as a part of Model Building Byelaws and suggested a draft chapter titled “Digital Connectivity Infrastructure in the Buildings” covering requirement of DCI for new and existing buildings. This assumes importance as majority of data consumption takes place indoors or in public premises whereas the quantum & speed of data consumption have seen exponential growth, more so with the advent of 5G technology.
As a part of aforesaid recommendations, the Authority also decided to bring a framework for rating of buildings or properties for digital connectivity to promote creation of good digital connectivity through a collaborative and self-sustainable approach.
Accordingly, these regulations are being notified to encourage and nudge property managers for providing good digital connectivity experience to their existing and prospective customers. A property with better ratings shall attract more users, buyers or investors and thereby add value to the properties.
In India, there are 927.56 million wireless internet subscribers against 42.04 million internet subscribers (as of June’ 2024) having wired connectivity in their homes or offices. Thus, at present, most of the population is dependent on wireless networks to access the internet.
Despite significant coverage of 4G (LTE) network and rollout of 5G network, availability of more spectrum bands, the coverage and quality of digital connectivity inside buildings remains a major issue which need to be addressed largely through collaboration of service providers and property managers.
The regulations have been finalized after following a detailed consultative process through a Consultation Paper on “Regulation on Rating Framework for Digital Connectivity in Buildings or Areas” was released on the TRAI website on 27 September 2023 inviting written comments from the stakeholders. An Open House Discussion (OHD) through Virtual mode, was held with the stakeholders, on 18th June 2024.