By Rob Lombardi, Construction Industry Lead, Wifinity
There’s a moment on every construction project when the site properly comes to life. It’s not the first dig, or even the first steel going up. It’s when people, systems and decisions start moving quickly and when teams need information to be where it should be, exactly when they need it.
That moment often arrives earlier than your programme suggests.
We’ve been working with BE News this year, looking into developers’ attitudes toward connectivity across their builds. What stands out isn’t anything dramatic or unexpected. It’s the mismatch between how projects are actually running and how connectivity is still being planned.
It was uncomfortable reading to find that nearly four in ten developers say they need connectivity from the early stages of construction. Not at completion, not at commissioning, but right at the point where the project begins to gather pace. Worse. On many projects, connectivity is pencilled in as something to pick up once the physical work feels more defined. That gap is where the problems begin.
When connectivity arrives late
I’ve spent time on plenty of live sites to see how quickly things depend on being connected and how many separate contractors need access to it. Drawings are updated, progress is tracked, safety systems are monitored and subcontractors coordinate in real time. None of it works particularly well in isolation.
When connectivity isn’t early enough or it’s unreliable, people get annoyed and by the time property commissioning comes, lots of small inefficiencies have already snowballed into a delayed project.
This is where another data point becomes more telling: a third of respondents say speed of deployment is a key factor. Not because speed is a luxury, but because without it, everything else slows down. Connectivity should behave like any other piece of infrastructure. If it’s late, the programme has already adapted to its absence in a bad way.
The question of site connectivity cost
I understand why connectivity doesn’t always get the attention it needs early.
Two-thirds of respondents told us that upfront connectivity infrastructure cost is the biggest barrier. On top of that, half highlight ongoing operational costs. In a market where margins are tight and scrutiny on spend is constant, I hear them.
But what the research also shows, and most project teams will recognise, is that avoiding early investment rarely removes the cost. It just moves it. Retrofitting infrastructure into a building that’s already progressed, or even completed, is rarely straightforward. Over a third of respondents describe retrofit complexity as a significant challenge, which feels like an understatement.
It isn’t just the physical work. It’s the coordination, the disruption to spaces that were already finished, the pressure it puts on commissioning timelines. This is happening exactly at the moment when there’s the least room for delay, so the idea of saving money by holding back on connectivity becomes harder and more expensive later on.
Why a managed service kept coming up
Another thread running through our survey is that more than 80% of organisations say they prefer a fully managed connectivity provider. Not a dramatic headline, but it says something important about how sites actually operate.
On paper, managing connectivity across a project might not look particularly complex. In practice, it usually means bringing together multiple suppliers, aligning installation with a moving programme, scaling coverage as the site evolves and dealing with issues as they arise.
Not surprisingly, many are leaning towards a simpler model. One partner, one contract, a single line of accountability from early site setup through to handover. Not because it’s easier in theory, but because it removes a layer of coordination that projects can do without.
There’s also a more subtle benefit. When connectivity is managed end-to-end, it doesn’t fall into the gap that sometimes appears between construction and operation. The same infrastructure that supports the build can transition into something the building operator can use, without needing to be reworked or replaced.
From site to building, without a break
That handover point is often where earlier decisions are important. If connectivity is treated as temporary during construction (in fact we provide a rapid site connectivity solution, but that’s something different) , there’s a moment towards the end of the programme where systems are revisited, infrastructure is adapted and, in some cases, replaced entirely.
That has a nasty habit of surfacing when timelines are tight and expectations around handover quality are high.
A small shift in how projects are planned
If nearly 40% of sites need it from the outset, then planning it later puts the programme under unnecessary pressure. And if most businesses already prefer a managed approach, that suggests the construction industry has a good sense of what works, even if it hasn’t been consistently applied yet.
In the end, site connectivity isn’t complicated. It’s about making sure the people on site have what they need to do their jobs without friction, from the first phase of work through to the moment the building is handed over.
The difference is that, increasingly, the need starts earlier than many programmes still account for.
If you’re building and want to get connectivity right from day one, download the full 2026 report and get in touch with our team.
Wifinity is a managed connectivity supplier and residential specialist, providing services for BTR, later living, student/PBSA, social housing and other multi-tenant developments. We provide networks and rapid connectivity solutions to construction firms, property owners, managers, landlords and FM service providers. Contact [email protected]