4G Could Affect TV Signal For 2m Households

Up to two million people could have their television signal disrupted once the long-awaited UK 4G networks have launched, Ofcom says.

The figure was revealed by culture minister Ed Vaisey, who was asked about the possible scale of interference by Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe in Cambridgeshire.

Digital problems

Those likely to be affected are households which use signal amplifiers and those which rely on a communal aerial. Among the frequencies that Ofcom is set to auction for 4G use are on the 800MHz spectrum, which is close to the 700MHz spectrum currently used for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).

Vaisey said that he had spoken to Ofcom, which estimated that “the number of households using signal amplifiers was 9 million of which up to 945,000 could be affected and the number of households using a communal aerial system was 5.6 million of which up to 953,000 households could be affected.”

In February, the government announced that mobile operators would be forced to pay into a £180 million fund that would be used to resolve any signal interference that 4G causes.  Ofcom predicted last year that 4G could affect as many as three percent of DTT viewers and suggested that filters may have to be applied to prevent disruption. The fund aims to ensure that disabled and elderly people are not affected and that it could spend as much as £10,000 per household to find a solution.

However, Ofcom believes that some households could still be affected.

“Ofcom estimates that the numbers of affected households could fall to 5,100 and 3,400 households respectively once a mixture of consumer based and selective mobile network based mitigation methods are applied, it explained.

One way of preventing disruption would be to reassign the 700MHz spectrum for mobile broadband use. Ofcom revealed that it was investigating the possibility last month, but acknowledged that the challenges such a move would present, meant it was unlikely to happen.

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