2 million homes with Freeview to suffer interference from 4G signals

According to reports in the Guardian, nearly two million homes face disruption to their Freeview digital TV signal because of interference from the next generation of mobile services (4G) which could come online by the end of this year.

Of these, about 900,000 homes rely solely on Freeview to receive digital TV, while up to 10,000 homes will no longer be able to receive Freeview at all and will have to get cable or satellite TV if they do not already have it.

The signals will be affected because the spectrum being used by the new 4G services (800 MHz) is next to spectrum used for TV services provided by Freeview. Households within 2km of a 4G mast are expected to be disrupted.

Broadcasters are urging the government to use money from the auctioning of 4G spectrum to telecoms companies to pay for solving the problem, arguing that a proposed £180m help scheme will not be enough.

The auction of the high-speed 4G spectrum is expected to raise between £2bn and £3bn for the government.

Speaking to the Guardian, John Tate, the BBC’s director of policy and strategy said: “4G is a great development but should not be allowed to interfere with people’s TV reception. There are plans in place that aim to reduce this interference but we believe that sufficient money should be deducted from the 4G auction proceeds to prevent it altogether. ”

The auction of the 4G spectrum is expected to raise between £2bn and £3bn for the government, but they are only proposing a help scheme worth £180m, which will fit digital TV sets with a filter to cut out the interference, with extra support for the over-75s and disabled.

The BBC has joined ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Arqiva and the ITV-owned multiplex operator SDN in making submissions to Ofcom over the help scheme concerns, stating: “Consumers will incur significant costs as a result of the government’s decisions – with our estimates … suggesting that consumers could face additional costs in excess of £100m to solve interference issues on primary sets only, with potential additional costs incurred in relation to secondary sets.”

Ofcom is yet to respond to the submission.

Read the full article at The Guardian.