Freeview 4G interference help scheme 'does not go far enough'
Published May 2 2012, 16:46 BST | By Andrew Laughlin
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According to estimates, some 1.9m homes receiving digital terrestrial television have the potential to suffer interference when 4G LTE services launch in the UK, either later this year or in 2013.
The government has proposed a £180m scheme to fund solutions to the potential TV interference, which will be funded by the winning mobile operators in the 4G spectrum auction planned by Ofcom later this year.
The help scheme will focus on the 900,000 affected homes that have Freeview only on their main set. The majority of homes will just need to fit a filter that will be supplied via the scheme, including free support for over-75s and people who are registered disabled.
Around 10,000 UK homes on Freeview will need to switch to cable or satellite services to avoid a major degradation in their picture.
Households unable to receive an alternative service to DTT will be offered up to £10,000 each to "find a solution", although that is expected to affect only around 500 homes.
Signals could be affected because the 800MHz spectrum to be auctioned off by Ofcom to enable 4G sits alongside the 700MHz spectrum used for Freeview. It is thought that households within a 2km radius of a 4G mast are most likely to suffer signal disruption.
Media groups are calling on the government to use some of the between £2bn and £3bn expected windfall from the 4G auction to ensure the TV interference help scheme does not fall short of addressing the problems.
"4G is a great development but should not be allowed to interfere with people's TV reception," said John Tate, the BBC's director of policy and strategy.
"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. This is based on the established principle that the polluter pays."
Critics of the £180m help scheme are concerned that the government has not taken into account the potentially high cost of fitting filters into people's homes, along with the problems of non-standard aerial installations and the "special attention" required for people living in flats and communal dwellings.
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.
They are worried that the government's approach has "the potential for many households, particularly in communal dwellings, to be left behind".
Ofcom was told that consumers could also be left with a hefty bill to sort out the interference issues themselves on their primary sets, potentially of up to £100m. This may increase significantly when extended to second sets, the groups said.
In its submission, Arqiva - which manages the UK's transmission architecture - said that viewers could be left with "potential additional costs in excess of £161m when the total installation costs of filters for non-standard aerial installations and the purchase of filters for non-primary sets are combined".
The firm added: "We remain very concerned that disruptions to secondary set users and households that depend on set-top or loft-mounted aerials for their reception have been completely ignored."
Freeview managing director Ilse Howling said in a statement: "We remain concerned that there are a number of issues to be resolved in particular that many households are likely to need professional help installing filters to protect their TVs from interference.
"Ofcom doesn't appear to have taken that into account and we will be raising that as a matter of urgency with government ministers."
Media regulator Ofcom has not yet responded to the submissions.
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I have 3 Freeview antennas, aerial amplifiers,distribution amplifiers 3 HD Freeview DVD recorders plus about 6 standard definition DVD recorders in various rooms.I am getting superb results on all this equipment; I will tolerate no degradation from 4G (it is an offence to interfere with television and radio transmissions). I also have 2 telephone transmitter towers within half a mile of my house which I am led to believe are close enough to cause interference. If I have to go over to satellite reception all my equipment will become redundant and will have to be paid for by the 4G license holders. This is another mess unforseen by "experts"
June 26th 2012 at 12:15am
4G sounds good but this whole thing on interferance filters is just ridiculous, bad bad bad
May 21st 2012 at 6:56pm(+1 like)
This is all **** about face as they should fit filters on 4G transmitters to prevent any interference to TV as after all why should TV Viewers have to have the hassle and expense of fitting filters to all their TV sets.
All this is pure guess work as it may affect people over 2km's away depending on their aerial.
I would not fancy a filter as this may reduce the quality.
May 9th 2012 at 1:23pm(+1 like)
Murdoch would gain almost £1 billion a year if all the affected people felt SKY was the only solution to getting a decent signal. A nice little present from his good pals the Tories.
May 3rd 2012 at 12:32am(+2 likes)
Not just that, what's the point of FREEview if you have to switch to a paid service!? You can buy a Freesat box but you also have to have the dish installed and aligned properly, so could end up forking out £150+ just to continue receiving a free-to-air signal!
May 2nd 2012 at 9:42pm(+1 like)