Why a digital coverage map for real estate does not exist yet

You are standing in front of a commercial building. A reasonable question: what digital infrastructure actually runs here? Is there fiber, and from which provider? Does that connection actually reach the building? What capacity can be delivered, are there multiple providers, and is redundancy possible? How does the connection physically enter the building, and what infrastructure lies within the walls after that?

For many commercial buildings, these questions cannot be answered within five minutes. And that is notable. More and more organizations can barely function without digital connectivity. Yet the address, floor area, construction year and energy label of that same building can often be looked up within seconds.

In this article we examine why, in 2026, there is still no digital coverage map for real estate. Not as a complaint, but as an analysis: what data already exists, where it is located, what is missing, what is sensitive, and what role an independent party such as IT-Label could play in this.

A nationwide internet map already exists

It is useful to first establish what is already available. The Ministry of Economic Affairs publishes a nationwide broadband map through Overal Snel Internet. It provides per-address insight into the availability of fixed internet connections of at least 100 Mbps and 1 Gbit/s.

That map is based on data supplied by dozens of providers of fixed telecom networks and services. That is an important observation: a large part of the basic data already exists. The information has been collected, structured and made publicly accessible.

But the map is primarily designed around nationwide broadband coverage and households. That is different from the questions that come up with commercial real estate. An organization moving into an office or commercial building wants to know whether dedicated business connections are possible, whether multiple providers deliver there and whether there is a physically independent second route. The broadband map is a starting point, not a building profile.

The ACM also holds telecom information

To understand why this question is so hard to answer, it helps to know how the Dutch telecom market is organized. The Authority for Consumers & Markets explains the distinction that is central here: the difference between the network owner and the telecom provider that offers services over that network.

That distinction is essential. A tenant may sign a contract with provider A, while the physical fiber is owned by network party B. As a result, the simple question "which provider is here?" is not actually sufficient.

What we should know is a set of related answers:

• Who owns the physical network that reaches the building?
• Which providers can deliver over that network?
• Which business services and capacities are available?

These questions relate directly to the theme further explored in the article on network redundancy: one connection is sometimes not enough, and whether a second route exists depends on the underlying network structure.

Providers have their own checks

Providers themselves also hold valuable information. KPN, for example, offers business fiber information and a fiber check that lets a user verify per address whether KPN fiber is available. Useful, but the same user may then have to search again with other providers.

A party like Eurofiber is strongly focused on business digital infrastructure and operates its own network, visible through the Eurofiber fiber network. In addition, there are many more relevant parties, each with its own map, check or dataset:

• VodafoneZiggo;
• Odido;
• DELTA Fiber;
• Glaspoort;
• Colt;
• Lumen;
• regional network owners and other business carriers.

Each of these parties mainly shows its own piece of the puzzle. That is logical and commercially understandable, but it means that a real estate professional who wants the complete picture has to go through a series of separate sources.

The information exists scattered across dozens of sources. The complete digital picture of the building does not exist yet.

Why does it not exist yet?

The information is there, the parties are there, the maps are there. Yet there is no single place where you enter an address and immediately get a complete digital profile back. That calls for a serious explanation, and it has several layers.

1. Telecom is organized commercially

Unlike electricity, there is not always one fixed telecom network operator per region. Multiple parties can lay their own fiber, purchase capacity or deliver services over someone else's network. This makes telecom more fragmented than the electricity grid, where the grid operator per postal code area can be clearly identified.

2. Availability is hyperlocal

A network can run through a business park without every building being connected to it. Even two adjacent commercial buildings can have different possibilities. A line on a map is not yet a connection inside the building. That nuance disappears in a nationwide coverage display.

3. Provider data changes constantly

New fiber is laid, business parks get connected, providers adjust their services and buildings get new connections. A digital map is therefore not a one-time project but something that needs to be kept up to date continuously. That is an organizational challenge as much as a technical one.

4. Not all information can be public

Security plays a role here. It is probably not wise to publicly and in detail show exactly where critical cable routes run, how the network architecture is built up, where active equipment is located or which infrastructure is vulnerable. This relates to cybersecurity in real estate. A distinction is needed between commercial availability data and security-sensitive technical details. Transparency does not mean publishing a manual for sabotage.

5. The last meters are building-specific

A provider may know what can be delivered to the building. That still does not tell us how the connection is distributed internally, what backbone is present, what cabling runs where, where the patch rooms are located and how much capacity the internal infrastructure can handle. That is where the world of real estate and IT facilities begins, and it falls outside the scope of most provider checks.

From postcode check to building passport

Suppose every commercial building were given a digital passport. No more separate checks, but one structured overview that answers the relevant questions at once. Such a profile would contain several elements: which providers are available, what type of connection can be delivered, what capacity is achievable, whether redundancy is possible, how many telecom entry points the building has, how the internal backbone is built up, whether there is a secured and documented technical room, and which digital delivery level belongs to it.

That delivery level translates to the IT-Label classification, from IT1+ PREMIUM to IT5 SHELL. Part of such a profile can consist of public and provider data, another part of an actual on-site inspection. It is precisely that combination that makes the picture complete.

Two information layers

It helps to think in terms of two layers. The first layer is external digital reachability, collected automatically or semi-automatically from providers, network companies, government data and public sources. This layer answers the question: what can, in principle, be delivered here?

The second layer is internal digital infrastructure, established through an IT-Label pre-inspection, audit or certification. This layer answers the question: what can this specific building actually process and distribute? The provider tells you what can reach the building. IT-Label makes visible what happens after that.

Why this matters for tenants, landlords and brokers

An organization looking for a new office today assesses location, floor area, rent, parking, energy label and accessibility. Internet often only comes up weeks later, even though it is business-critical. With a digital building map, such an organization could already filter during the search phase on fiber present, at least two providers, redundancy possible and a delivery level of IT2 PLUG & PLAY or higher. This makes digital infrastructure part of the real estate selection.

New possibilities also arise for a property owner. A landlord can demonstrate which providers deliver, what capacity is available, how the backbone is built up, whether redundancy is possible and what digital delivery level the building has. This turns IT from something technical behind the scenes into a leasing argument. Digital infrastructure becomes visible real estate quality.

For brokers it means a brochure no longer has to stop at "fiber present". They can communicate concretely about two independent business fiber providers, a capacity of up to, say, 10 Gbit/s, a redundant building entry and an IT2 PLUG & PLAY level. That gives a prospective tenant significantly more relevant information, something the modern broker is increasingly asked about.

Compare it with energy data

The comparison with energy is illuminating. For a building we can relatively easily find the address, the land registry data, the floor area, the construction year and the energy label. For energy we can also find out via the ACM who the regional grid operator is.

That raises the central question: why can I find the energy label of a building within seconds, but have to call several parties to discover how the building is digitally connected? The answer does not lie in a lack of data, but in the absence of a place that brings the existing data together. This connects to the broader development from energy label to IT label.

IT-Label as the hub in the web

Here lies a possible role, formulated carefully but ambitiously. IT-Label does not need to become a telecom provider. IT-Label does not need to build a fiber network or sell an internet subscription. But IT-Label could potentially become the independent layer that brings together information from various parties and translates it into real estate terms.

You can visualize this as a chain. Providers, network owners, government data and building data together feed one understandable digital building profile, with IT-Label as the independent translation layer between telecom, IT and real estate.

Why an independent party specifically? Every telecom provider logically gives insight mainly into its own services. An independent real estate standard can instead look at all available providers, the total building infrastructure, redundancy, future readiness and internal infrastructure. The goal is not to determine which provider is best, but to make visible what this building can handle digitally. That fits with IT-Label's role as an independent knowledge collective.

Consider an IT-Label Connectivity Map

As a future concept, one can imagine an IT-Label Connectivity Map, or more broadly a Digital Infrastructure Map. A map where you enter an address, see the available digital infrastructure, can compare providers, see whether a building has been inspected and can view the corresponding IT label.

It is important to note that this is a vision and a concept, not an existing nationwide database. It sketches a direction in which existing information is put to better use, not a claim that it already exists.

Can provider data be connected through integrations?

A reasonable follow-up question is whether providers, network owners and public bodies can make APIs, open data, address checks or datasets available that can be linked together. Technically, much is possible, but several conditions play a role:

• GDPR and the handling of address-linked data;
• cybersecurity and shielding sensitive details;
• the commercial sensitivity of network information;
• the currency and maintenance of the data;
• data ownership and its quality.

The core question is not whether we need to collect everything all over again, but whether we can connect existing information more intelligently. That makes this primarily an organizational and legal issue, and only after that a technical one.

An open invitation to the telecom sector

This is explicitly not criticism of the telecom sector, but an invitation. To KPN, VodafoneZiggo, Odido, Eurofiber, DELTA Fiber, Glaspoort, Colt, Lumen, regional fiber parties and other carriers: can we make this easier together?

You know what lies outside the building. Property owners know what lies inside the building. IT parties know what is technically needed. Tenants know what their organization requires. What if we brought that information together? The invitation is to explore together with IT-Label how an independent standard, and potentially a nationwide digital building map, could be realized.

Think bigger than commercial real estate

A good digital real estate database is interesting for a wide range of parties: companies, property owners, brokers, project developers, municipalities, business parks, financiers, valuers, telecom providers, government and security organizations. Ultimately it provides insight into where our buildings are digitally strong and where investment is needed.

That takes it beyond commercial real estate alone. It touches on digital infrastructure and economic resilience, and on the question of whether the Netherlands keeps building in a future-proof way for an economy that increasingly runs on data. The Netherlands has one of the most developed digital infrastructures in the world. We have fiber networks, providers, building data, broadband maps and technical information. What we still lack is the connection between those worlds.

Take the first step toward a connected picture

Perhaps that is exactly the role of IT-Label. Not another provider, not another postcode check, but one independent layer that makes visible what a building can actually handle digitally. From postcode to building. From provider to property. From fiber to digital delivery level. Together we make visible what is currently still invisible.

Are you a telecom provider, network owner, real estate party, data specialist or government body wanting to think along about a nationwide digital real estate map? Contact IT-Label and explore with us how we can connect existing information into one understandable picture per building.