£180m scheme to tackle TV signal interference
Mobile operators to help solve problems caused by 4G services.
A £180 million scheme will fund solutions to TV signal interference which could be caused by the next generation of mobile services.
Some households will experience interference to their digital terrestrial TV, or Freeview, reception when 4G is introduced from next year.
Communications Minister Ed Vaizey announced today that affected homes will be provided with solutions through a help scheme that will be funded and run by mobile operators.
“Next generation mobile services are essential for economic growth,” Mr Vaizey said. “They will bring an estimated benefit of £2-3 billion to the UK economy. There will be some interference when 4G services are rolled-out but we will have the solutions in place to eliminate the disruption to television viewers.”
Mobile phone operators are expected to begin introducing 4G services next year once Ofcom has auctioned spectrum, which is the airwaves used for transmitting information like TV and mobile signals. An action plan for releasing spectrum was published last March and an update on progress was released in December.
Most houses will simply need to fit their TV with a filter that will be supplied by the help scheme, with extra support to fit them available to the over-75s and people who are registered disabled.