Nine out of ten people feel annoyed when bandwidth or coverage issues prevent them from using their mobile phones as usual, according to a recent nationally representative survey¹. Users often encounter such problems in shopping centers, newly built office buildings, or residential parks, but few are aware of who is responsible for ensuring signal strength in these locations.

The survey conducted by CETIN Hungary Zrt., Hungary’s first mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider, analyzed, among other things, how important mobile coverage is and how frequently we experience related problems in places like shopping centers, office buildings, hotels, or residential parks.

Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of users consider high-quality mobile internet very important or even essential (58%), while more than one-third find it rather important, and only a negligible 8 percent do not consider it important. The vast majority of respondents (90%) are frustrated when bandwidth or coverage problems prevent them from using their phones as usual.

But whose responsibility is it?

Mobile operators must meet very strict coverage requirements; this, however, does not automatically guarantee adequate signal strength in a newly built property complex. The most advanced construction technologies insulate so well that they can even hinder the availability of mobile networks.

A larger portion of respondents in the survey — 61 percent — incorrectly believe that mobile operators are responsible for ensuring proper bandwidth and coverage at such locations. Only 16 percent of respondents correctly thought that it should be the responsibility of the builder or property developer to provide high-quality service.

What happens if mobile internet isn’t working well?

The research also sought to find out how often users visit such locations — sports events, newly built residential parks, office buildings, hotels, city districts, industrial parks, or shopping centers — and what quality of mobile coverage they experienced there.

In the past six months, 91 percent of respondents visited at least one of these locations, and the majority (56%) visited several of them. A significant portion – 70 percent – of respondents reported occasional or frequent problems with their mobile phones or coverage at these locations. 58 percent experienced inadequate service in underground garages, and nearly 50 percent reported similar problems in stadiums, industrial parks, newly built factories, and logistics centers. Additionally, about 40 percent noticed mobile coverage problems in hotels, office buildings, residential parks, as well as newly built city and shopping centers.

For the vast majority of respondents, it is important to have adequate bandwidth and coverage at all such locations. Most consider this aspect essential at shopping centers (88%), newly built city centers and hotels (84% each), residential complexes (83%), office buildings (81%), as well as industrial parks (80%). However, a clear expectation for proper bandwidth and coverage also exists for underground garages (63%), stadiums and major sporting events (62%).

Why is good mobile coverage important everywhere?

The overwhelming 96 percent of respondents not only use their mobile devices for calls but also for data-driven applications. Among these, video calls, messaging services, and social media activity are the most common (74%). Not far behind are everyday tasks — banking, parking, emailing, shopping, maps — (69%) and reading news or consuming content (67%). About one-third frequently watch movies or play games, and 12 percent already use smart/IoT devices that require mobile internet — such as smartwatches, smart rings, or blood glucose monitors.*

The survey found that the majority of respondents have already suffered losses due to bandwidth and coverage problems. Most commonly, they wasted time (40%), missed important events or opportunities (25%), but some also incurred additional costs (14%) or lost revenue (8%) as a consequence.*

„One of the most important lessons of our research is that mobile coverage has now become a basic necessity. Its absence – as insufficient indoor coverage – not only causes inconvenience for users but often results in actual losses”, said Judit Kübler-Andrási, CEO of CETIN Hungary. “Therefore, it is crucial not only for users, for whom adequate service is essential, but also for property developers and mobile operators to ensure that everyone has access to reliable coverage in high-traffic, newly built areas. To achieve this, it is advisable to find the right infrastructure solution already during the planning phase, so that a multi-operator network capable of meeting customer expectations for mobile internet and phone usage does not have to be built later at a much higher cost.”

 

¹The opinion poll was conducted using the Europion market research application, with 1,195 respondents on September 20, 2025. The results are nationally representative of the Hungarian population over the age of 16, based on age, gender, educational attainment, type of residence, and region.

*Respondents could select multiple options for this question.