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Norway: Nkom’s guide to in-building connectivity

Nkom advocates cross-sector collaboration, rather than regulatory intervention, to address increasing problems with poor mobile coverage indoors

Nkom has encouraged close cooperation between the construction and telecoms sectors to improve in-building coverage

On 13 June 2025, the Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom) published the responses to its consultation on a draft guide for establishing indoor mobile coverage. The consultation – which was launched in February 2025 – explains that other recent plans and white papers focused on digitalisation have avoided the issue of worsening in-building mobile coverage as it can be difficult to tackle. Nkom has proposed that construction companies and mobile operators should cooperate more closely to overcome the problem of new buildings being so well insulated that coverage indoors is poor. The guide emphasises that operators and construction companies must resolve the issue themselves to an extent, rather than relying on or waiting for regulatory intervention. Inger Vollstad (Head of Section, Nkom) has stressed this point, stating that Nkom considers “it is best for the players themselves to come up with good solutions together”.

The draft guide calls on building owners and tenants to consider signal boosting DAS

Nkom’s draft guide provides a number of suggestions for building owners and tenants to improve the quality of their in-building coverage. The regulator recommends using distributed antenna systems (DAS), which use multiple antennas placed around a given location (e.g. a stadium or block of flats) to boost signal strength and ensure consistent and reliable coverage. Nkom praises DAS because of how it can use both Wi-Fi and mobile technologies to boost coverage. The guide also focuses a section on electromagnetic fields (EMF), explaining to building owners and tenants the various regulations on EMF exposure and how Wi-Fi and mobile coverage plays into those. Another key section of the guide is on safety and, more specifically, security. Nkom states the current geopolitical situation as a reason for this focus and calls on building owners and tenants to consider security and data privacy when planning to implement technological systems.

Telenor has argued that modern building design and materials, not mobile operators, are to blame for poor service indoors

While the majority of the 18 consultation responses were receptive to many of the regulator’s proposals, Telenor was keen to point out a number of potential problems. Firstly, it argued that mobile operators should not be held responsible for poor in-building coverage, as it sees modern building design and materials as the main reason for reduced quality of service. On this same issue, it argues that building owners should be responsible and therefore, regulatory obligations relating to in-building coverage should not be imposed on operators. To encourage construction companies and building owners to plan for how coverage will be received in their buildings at an early stage of the building process, Telenor has called on Nkom to include more details on the economic benefits of good in-building coverage in its guide. Interestingly, it also criticised the regulator’s suggestion of using DAS, arguing that some of these systems could stop working so well if other new buildings and obstructions were developed in the surrounding area, blocking antenna signals. Telenor’s final two suggestions were to significantly tone down the EMF section and instead to emphasise the need for strong security, calling for considerations of the EU’s NIS2 Directive in particular. Telia’s response to the consultation largely aligns with the points made by Telenor, but is generally less concerned with the draft guide and has mostly asked for added clarity on a number of sections such as on planning, mobile technologies and security.