By Sharon Olive, Chief Commercial Officer at Freshwave. Sharon has spent over two decades helping to improve mobile and wireless connectivity across the public and private sectors.
Across Scotland, a silent but significant barrier to productivity sits inside many of our buildings. Research among senior business and IT leaders suggests that poor indoor mobile connectivity is costing the Scottish economy around £5 billion each year, with larger organisations collectively losing approximately £8 million annually due to daily disruptions. For many organisations this is not just a headline figure, but a constant drain on operations, communications and service delivery.
Mobile infrastructure is often viewed primarily as an outdoor challenge – addressed through masts, fibre rollout and major infrastructure investment. Scotland has already made significant progress in this area through programmes such as Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, and Reaching 100%, all of which have helped expand connectivity across the country.
Yet indoor coverage remains a persistent issue. Around 80% of mobile usage now happens inside buildings, but modern construction materials can severely weaken signal. Steel frames, reinforced concrete and energy-efficient glazing can all block mobile signals, leaving otherwise well-connected areas struggling with coverage indoors.
More than eight in ten organisations report experiencing daily disruption due to poor indoor connectivity. These issues often appear minor in isolation – a dropped call, a frozen video meeting, or a payment terminal that stalls. However, repeated day after day, these small interruptions accumulate into measurable productivity losses.
Over time, these disruptions embed friction into the working day and affect sectors ranging from healthcare and finance to retail, manufacturing and logistics. Organisations estimate that the resulting inefficiencies account for around 1.5% of annual revenue or operating budgets.
This is particularly notable given Scotland’s wider digital ambitions. Innovation hubs such as the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University are already demonstrating the potential of advanced technologies supported by private 5G networks. These initiatives highlight the importance of strong connectivity as a foundation for economic growth and technological innovation.
Fixing indoor mobile connectivity would reinforce these broader ambitions. Research suggests that improving indoor signal alone could unlock £5 billion in additional economic output across Scotland.
As both public and private sector organisations face increasing pressure to do more with limited resources, the case for addressing indoor connectivity challenges becomes ever more compelling. Many organisations are planning to increase spending on connectivity over the next two years, but with budgets under pressure, that investment must be carefully targeted to deliver clear operational benefits.
Fortunately, solutions are already widely available. Indoor small cells can be installed within buildings to extend mobile coverage exactly where it is needed, providing strong multi-operator connectivity in offices, hospitals and other workplaces.
In larger and more complex environments, such as major shopping centres or busy transport hubs, distributed antenna systems can deliver consistent mobile coverage across entire buildings. When deployed as neutral-host systems, these networks allow multiple mobile operators to share infrastructure, reducing duplication while improving connectivity for everyone using the space.
With so many operational and economic benefits available, Scotland has a clear opportunity to ensure that its digital infrastructure delivers where it matters most.
For government departments, NHS bodies and private organisations alike, the era of accepting poor indoor mobile coverage must come to an end if Scotland is to remain competitive in a modern digital economy.