Into an (insulated) brick wall: mobile connectivity and the thermal efficiency of residential buildings

Climate mitigation policies often target the increased energy efficiency of the residential building stock through the use of insulating materials which reduce heat loss. However, building materials with low thermal transmissivity have higher radio signal attenuation rates, which may reduce indoor service quality for mobile data users. This paper examines how reports of indoor mobile coverage quality vary across areas characterised by energy-efficient residential buildings. We create a unique dataset which links a nationally representative survey of mobile consumer experiences collected in Ireland in Q2 2022 to an administrative dataset of Building Energy Ratings. Household level telecommunication infrastructure (quality of available outdoor mobile coverage and download speed of active fixed line broadband connection) is additionally considered using market intelligence data from the national regulatory authority. Our results show a positive association between living in areas with higher proportions of energy efficient homes and the probability of reporting an issue with indoor mobile phone signal. Robustness checks for quality of service issues in alternative locations, lend support to the hypothesis that this is driven by the channel of outdoor-to-indoor signal attenuation. These findings highlight the importance of considering developments across other policy domains when safe-guarding future connectivity.