Poor mobile signals now a deal breaker in property deals

NEW DELHI: There was a time when property dealers lured prospective tenants with promises of spacious rooms, potable drinking water and road connectivity before selling a property.

Times, however, have changed. With cell phones becoming a necessity for millennials now, mobile network connectivity has become a prime requirement for anyone looking to buy or rent a property in Delhi.

With telecom companies still struggling to deal with call drops, the issue of network connectivity has become a serious concern for property owners

Hina, a BPO employee, who had recently shifted to Uttam Nagar in West Delhi, realised that there was almost no network at her rented accommodation.

"It was troublesome to be aloof from the rest of the world in the flat. There is nothing I could do if someone from my family tried to contact me in an emergency. I have to step out of the house to talk to my family or see missed calls at my office," says Hina.

Within a month, she packed her bags and shifted to another location with better mobile network connectivity.

Bablu, a property dealer in Jamia Nagar in south east Delhi, has spent almost a decade selling and purchase of flats.

"The first thing a tenant or potential buyer now checks is mobile network connectivity. They just strolls inside the flat and shake their head disapprovingly when there are no mobile signals. There is little we can do with this issue. This has affected our business drastically," rues Bablu.

Some properties have signal strength so good that people can talk in the toilet and kitchen, while others have such weak signals that talking in the drawing rooms and bedrooms too is difficult.

To check the network strength, buyers often move around the house while checking a property. Some landlords have even installed mobile signal boosters to overcome the issue, but it is of little help.

Hafeez, a media employee, has no option but to reach the pickup location of his office cab half an hour before the expected time of arrival, saying, "There is no mobile connectivity where I stay, so I have to come out early and wait, or else I miss the cab".

It is surprising that mobile network connectivity is adversely affecting property rates. Some property dealers, who earlier quoted high prices for a property, have now mellowed down to reasonable rates because of little to no mobile network connectivity.