Into a brick wall: mobile connectivity and the thermal efficiency of residential buildings

Climate mitigation policies have resulted in increased rates of residential energy efficiency retrofitting. However, building materials with low thermal transmissivity often have higher radio signal attenuation rates which can reduce indoor service quality for mobile phone users. This paper empirically documents this phenomenon in Ireland by linking administrative data on Building Energy Ratings, with reports of in-home mobile quality of service (QoS) issues collected from a nationally representative survey on mobile consumer experiences in Q2 2022. Importantly, we consider local telecommunication infrastructure by exploiting rich market intelligence data from the National Regulatory Authority. This allows us to account for the quality of outdoor mobile coverage and active fixed line broadband connections at the household level. We find 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. This highlights the importance of aligning energy efficiency policy with telecommunication policy to ensure future connectivity is safeguarded.