Improved Indoor Connectivity Could Add Billions To UK Economy – Survey

The value of improved online access to the British economy has been evidenced in a new survey from connectivity infrastructure provider Freshwave.

Perhaps one of the most startling revelations from the Freshwave survey, was that better indoor mobile signal could grow the UK economy by £70bn a year, which would provide a vital boost to Chancellor Rachel’s Reeve’s focus on growth.

The connectivity issue in recent years in the UK has mostly focused on Openreach’s program to install full fibre connections to the majority of UK homes and premises, as well as the scheme to eliminate mobile network ‘not-spots’ in rural and remote locations.

Connectivity costs

But whilst Ofcom data shows that 93 percent of the UK landmass is covered by 4G mobile network coverage from at least one operator, mobile connectivity indoors is often extremely poor.

Thus Freshwave’s revelation in its Mobile Connectivity ROI Index that better indoor mobile signal and connectivity could grow the UK economy by £70bn, should be of interest to the government.

Especially considering that the survey, which gathered the input from 900 C-suite executives and IT decision-makers at organisations (with 100+ employees), also found that poor indoor connectivity costs the UK economy £100bn annually – an average of £4.6m for each organisation.

Respondents believed better indoor mobile connectivity could reduce that impact by as much as 70 percent, equating to added value of £70bn per year across the UK economy.

The vast majority (87 percent) of the participating organisations reported poor current indoor connectivity causes daily disruptions.

Freshwave points out that investing in better in-building mobile connectivity, such as 4G or 5G coverage, would reduce disruption and support revenue growth, increase operational performance, and drive higher customer satisfaction, generating £3.2m in annual productivity gains per organisation.

Connectivity challenges

Freshwave also pointed out that often the layout of British buildings, as well as their construction materials (such as energy efficient glass), can block outdoor mobile signal from penetrating buildings.

Many homes in the UK therefore opt to connect their mobile devices to the landline’s Wi-Fi network, providing they have a landline connection.

Matters are also not helped when mobile operators seek to improved mobile coverage by installing mobile masts within residential areas, but face pushback from ill-informed campaigners within the local community.

Freshwave’s survey found that 5 minutes of poor connectivity per day translate to a 1 percent annual loss in productive time.

“The UK economy simply cannot afford to lose £100bn every year,” noted Simon Frumkin, CEO of Freshwave. “That is why massive investments have been made in digital infrastructure over the past decade.”

“We must now build upon this platform and ensure seamless mobile connectivity extends to wherever people want to use it,” said Frumkin. “The prize will be £70bn of added value for businesses, so it’s little wonder the majority expect to invest in mobile technology over the next two years.”

Sector losses

Freshwave found that the public sector is the most affected by indoor connectivity dead zones, losing £46bn annually, with potential gains of £33bn not being realised.

The professional and financial services sector follows, losing £24bn annually, with a potential gain of £17bn from better indoor mobile connectivity.

As the nation’s financial and governmental hub, London stands to gain the most from improved indoor mobile connectivity (£14bn), followed by the South East (£13bn) and the Midlands (£10bn), Freshwave noted.

As the UK continues to wrestle with its long-standing productivity problem, the majority of respondents (62 percent) identified workforce productivity as being the primary beneficiary of improved indoor mobile connectivity.

But as well as other immediate gains from better indoor signal such as financial performance (57 percent), operational efficiency (56 percent), and customer satisfaction (52 percent), respondents also saw longer term benefits such as AI-driven use cases, automation use cases and personalised experiences.