NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the
draft manual for assessment of rating of properties for better digital
connectivity.
The exponential growth in digitalisation during last
decade has revolutionised the world impacting everything, from economy,
innovation, science, and education, to health, sustainability, governance, and lifestyle.
Digital technologies are fundamentally changing business
models, institutions, and the society as a whole, according to Ministry of
Communications.
The rating manual will enable adoption of uniform
assessment methodology by the Digital Connectivity Rating Agencies (DCRAs) for
rating of properties.
It will also provide a standard reference for the
Property Managers (PMs) for creation of Digital Connectivity Infrastructure
(DCI) in their properties.
Properties will be evaluated based on defined parameters
in the regulation such as fiber readiness, mobile network availability,
in-building solutions and Wi-Fi infrastructure, service performance etc,
according to TRAI.
As per reports, maximum data consumption happens inside
buildings and, therefore, in-buildings digital connectivity has become crucial
especially for 4G and 5G networks which uses high frequency bands for
delivering high speed data rates, but they get attenuated due to walls and
building materials.
In major step to address issues of digital connectivity
inside buildings, TRAI submitted recommendations to the government on “Rating
of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity”.
The recommendations are aimed to create an ecosystem for
co-creations of Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) as a part of any
development activity.
“A property with better ratings shall attract more users,
buyers or investors and thereby add value to the properties,” said the
Authority.
The rating manual will serve as a structured framework
designed to ensure a fair, transparent, and standardised approach to assessing
digital connectivity under the provisions of the regulation.
A structured rating system enables prospective tenants
and buyers to compare properties based on their connectivity rating, ensuring
they choose locations with the best digital infrastructure.
