Written By Graham Payne, Executive Chairman of Freshwave, a leading UK connectivity infrastructure as-a-service provider
Across Wales, a quiet but significant barrier to productivity exists within the walls of our buildings. Research among C-suite and senior IT decision-makers suggests that poor indoor mobile connectivity is costing the Welsh economy around £4 billion every year, with organisations employing more than 100 people losing roughly £4.6 million annually as a result of daily disruptions. For many organisations, this is not just a striking statistic but a persistent challenge affecting operations, communication and service delivery.
Mobile infrastructure is often viewed primarily as an outdoor issue – something addressed through additional masts or programmes designed to eliminate rural not-spots. Initiatives such as the Shared Rural Network have made significant progress in improving coverage across rural areas, while innovative partnerships between Haven holiday parks, mobile network operators and Freshwave have demonstrated how collaboration can extend connectivity in hard-to-reach places.
But the performance of indoor environments is just as important. Around 80% of mobile usage takes place inside buildings, yet the materials used in modern construction often prevent signal from travelling effectively indoors. Steel-framed structures, thick walls and energy-efficient glass can all weaken mobile signals, leaving organisations that are otherwise well connected facing persistent coverage gaps.
Four out of five organisations in Wales report that poor indoor connectivity disrupts their operations every day. What may appear to be small interruptions – a video call dropping, a delay accessing cloud-based documents, or a payment terminal taking longer than it should, all accumulates over time. Even five minutes of lost connectivity per working day can reduce annual productive time by around one percent. These small inefficiencies quickly add up to become a widespread economic drag, affecting sectors ranging from healthcare and finance to manufacturing and logistics.
These challenges persist despite Wales’s broader ambitions to strengthen digital infrastructure. It has now been four years since the Digital Strategy for Wales was launched, bringing together a range of policies designed to improve connectivity, expand digital access and modernise public services.
Improving indoor connectivity would directly support these ambitions. Addressing indoor mobile not spots could increase Wales’s GDP by more than two percent, generating up to £3 billion in additional economic value. As a percentage uplift, that represents the largest potential boost of any UK region.
As organisations across both the public and private sectors face growing pressure to increase productivity, the case for stronger indoor connectivity is becoming increasingly clear. Many organisations are already planning to increase investment in their connectivity infrastructure, but with budgets under scrutiny it’s essential that this spending is directed towards practical, proven solutions.
Encouragingly, there are already examples across Wales where organisations have taken steps to address indoor connectivity challenges. The Grange University Hospital has deployed a distributed antenna system (DAS) that provides connectivity for all mobile operators throughout the hospital. Meanwhile Principality Stadium offers 5G connectivity from Vodafone, and the International Convention Centre Wales was an early adopter of a remotely managed DAS connecting all operators.
Solutions to these challenges already exist. Indoor small cells can be installed discreetly inside buildings to extend coverage exactly where signal is needed, providing all-operator connectivity across offices, hospitals and public venues. For extremely high footfall locations, a DAS delivers consistent, high-quality coverage across extensive indoor environments.
Improving indoor mobile connectivity is not about adopting speculative new technologies. It is about deploying proven solutions that remove a long-standing barrier to productivity and service delivery.
Wales has already demonstrated a strong commitment to improving digital infrastructure. The next step is ensuring that connectivity works reliably in the places where people spend most of their time – inside the buildings where they work, learn, shop and receive care.
For government bodies, NHS organisations and private enterprises alike, the era of accepting poor indoor connectivity should now come to an end – not simply for convenience, but for productivity, resilience and long-term economic growth.