Disclosed are techniques for receiving reference radio frequency (RF) signals for positioning estimation. In an aspect, a receiver device receives, from a transmission point, a reference RF signal on a wireless channel receives, from a positioning entity, an indication that the reference RF signal serves as a source for a quasi-collocation (QCL) type(s) for positioning reference RF signals received by the receiver device from the transmission point on the wireless channel, measures an average delay, a delay spread, or both the average delay and the delay spread of the reference RF signal based on the QCL type(s), receives, from the transmission point, a positioning reference RF signal on the wireless channel, and identifies a time of arrival (ToA) of the positioning reference RF signal based on the measured average delay, the delay spread, or both the average delay and the delay spread of the reference RF signal.