From May 1, all new buildings must come with fibre broadband points for every home. Within the home, developers must also lay structured cables in every room for distributing the fibre broadband signals.

The new requirements were listed in the Infocomm Development Authority's (IDA) new buildings code released on Wednesday. This is part of the Government's push to have every building installed with the necessary equipment for mobile and fixed broadband services.

All building owners - new and existing - must also set aside rent-free space in the development for telcos to install mobile equipment including base stations for adequate indoor coverage. A base station transmits and receives signals from users' cellphones within a defined radius.

IDA said it wants to keep its code of practice relevant to consumer needs - particularly amid rising fibre broadband and smartphone usage. Mr Leong Keng Thai, IDA deputy chief executive and director-general for telecoms and post, said that changes in the building code are "will benefit consumers and improve their mobile and broadband experiences".