Experts agree that dedicated indoor cellular infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Providing seamless connectivity in large venues such as transportation hubs, shopping centers and stadiums is becoming much more attainable as mobile network operators see a viable business case for providing this service to the thousands of users that pass through these venues every day. 

But for smaller venues—retail outlets, hotel lobbies or sidewalk cafes—the return on the investment for the operator is not as clear. Nevertheless, wireless users expect their connectivity to be the same regardless of whether they are in a large stadium or walking the aisles of the local grocery store.  

There is no one solution to solving the in-building coverage problem. However, the neutral host model is gaining traction because it offers a single shared and managed cellular infrastructure (either DAS or small cells or both) that support multiple mobile network operators simultaneously, replacing the need for separate infrastructure from each operator. 

These issues and more were debated during the panel hosted by Ookla at the recent Mobile World Congress 2026 conference in Barcelona. Moderated by Karim Yaici, industry analyst at Ookla, the session featured Alberto Hernando, global head of densification at Cellnex; Mikael Lundman, CEO at Proptivity, and Mike Saperstein, senior vice president, government affairs and chief strategy officer at the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA).

Saperstein noted that the traditional in-building model where mobile operators have “footed the bill” is not viable with smaller buildings. But it’s also unclear if building owners are ready to make that investment.  

“If I’m a building owner, does it make sense for me to invest in everything up-front?” Saperstein asked, noting that building owners are going to want to have some guarantee that what they purchase will not become outdated if the technology shifts.

However, Lundman noted that Proptivity, which is a neutral host provider that sells its solutions to building owners, thinks the business case for outfitting buildings with neutral host solutions is very strong, because building owners don’t want to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build an office building only to find out their tenants can’t make phone calls in the building.  “For building owners, it is very much up to you to make sure your customers in the building are happy,” he added.

Cellnex’s Hernando agreed, noting that tenants will lose productivity and retailers will lose sales without proper indoor coverage. However, he added that the right funding model depends on the vertical and the venue. Cellnex operates as an independent neutral host provider, acting as the “glue” between landlords and mobile network operators on a single shared infrastructure. It has deployed more than 1,000 in-building systems across Europe and works with all the major MNOs on-boarded. 

From DAS to Small Cells  

Not only is the business model for inbuilding still evolving, so is the technology. In-building solutions have migrated from repeaters to passive distributed antenna systems (DAS)  and active DAS and now even includes small cells.

Hernando noted that the traditional DAS model does not translate easily to mid-size venues, where the cost remains a significant barrier. 

But it is important to deploy in-building systems that will evolve as mobile traffic grows and use cases evolve. “This is not just about investing and providing a solution for 2026,” Hernando said. “We need to evolve the systems and provide good connectivity, not only for today but for the coming years.”