Million homes will suffer TV interference from new mobiles

[dutchman]

Almost a million UK homes will need to have filters installed to prevent TV interference from 4G mobile signals - at a cost of £108m.

A smaller number of homes - about 10,000 - will need to switch to satellite or cable TV services in order to avoid degraded picture quality.

Homes that cannot receive these alternative platforms will receive up to £10,000 each to "find a solution".

Costs will be met by the winner of a spectrum auction later this year.

Consultations are currently being held into how spectrum - which is used by analogue television - will be offered to mobile operators once airwaves are freed up by the switch to digital.

These airwaves are crucial to mobile operators to create next-generation mobile services.

The winning bidder, or bidders, will be required to pay for the costs of making sure viewers of digital terrestrial television (DTT) will not be affected by the changes.

Unwanted noise

In a consultation document released in August last year, media regulator Ofcom estimated that about 760,000 homes could be affected.

However, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) told the BBC that further research had suggested that number was likely to be closer to 900,000.

Homes falling within a certain range of transmitter towers will automatically have a filter issued, while a helpline will be set up to deal with interference cases outside of the predicted areas.

The filter, which is fitted to a digital TV box, blocks out unwanted noise from the 4G signal.

It can be fitted without the help of an engineer - but over-75s and disabled people will be given assistance if needed.

The DCMS said that in a very small number of homes, the filters would not be sufficient. A platform change - to satellite or cable - will be required, the cost of which will also be covered by the mobile operator.

It is estimated that about 10,000 homes may need to take this measure.

It is also predicted that about 500 homes affected by interference will be unable to receive satellite or cable services.

In these cases, expected to be in rural areas, up to £10,000 per household will be provided to fund alternative solutions to receiving television - such as having fibre cabling installed.

The DCMS said it predicted that small groups of affected houses would be able to pool their funding in order to pay for bigger investments like additional relay transmitters.

'Disruptive'

Without the preventative measures, television picture would become unclear and fragmented, warned Saverio Romeo, an industry analyst from Frost & Sullivan.

"The LTE [Long Term Evolution] spectrum, particularly on 800Mhz, overlaps part of the DTT spectrum," he said.

"The closer you are to a base station, the more disruptive the interference."

He said that in addition to the £10,000 fund for the severely disrupted homes, education should be provided in order to help people understand what options were available.

"If you give £10,000 to a lady in Cumbria and say: 'You need to fix it' - I don't think it's enough.

"You need to help people understand new technologies. It's not enough to give subsidies."

A spokesman for the DCMS said added advice would be given to those receiving the financial help.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said adoption of 4G would provide a boost to the UK's digital economy.

"Next-generation mobile services are essential for economic growth. They will bring an estimated benefit of £2-3bn 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."

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Freeview 4G interference help scheme 'does not go far enough'

Almost two million UK homes could face disruption to their digital television signal due to interference with the forthcoming 4G mobile signals, as media groups express concern over the government's scheme to address the problem.

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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UK government pledges further support to tackle 4G interference

The UK government has pledged to offer further financial support to residents whose television signal is affected by 4G interference.

Reports suggest that around 2.3 million households could suffer as a result of the network technology, costing viewers up to £180 million to purchase filters.

The coalition has now admitted that more support is needed, outlining plans to assist householders in a letter from Ed Vaizey to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

"The high speed mobile broadband services which will be launched in the 800MHz spectrum will bring significant economic and social benefits to the UK as a whole and to consumers and businesses," Vaizey wrote.

"Many of those consumers will also be viewers of DTT and some of those will unfortunately have those TV services affected by the LTE services unless action is taken to deal with interference.

"The Government is keen to mitigate the effects of interference, so that no television viewer loses access to television services."

Service provider Freeview has welcomed the mitigation measures, stating that the new proposals are more appropriate than those originally outlined.

"Freeview welcomes the Government's announcement of additional support to be given to households to meet the costs of installing filters where necessary to protect TV services against the impact of 4G interference. This was a clear omission in earlier proposals," said managing director Ilse Howling.

"We also note that, should the costs for protecting people's television services exceed the £180 million the Government has set aside, Ministers are committed to bearing the risk of any overspend.

"However, we remain concerned that viewers living in flats, many of whom will be on lower incomes, will not be covered by the Government's plans. Additional TVs will not be supported either. It is unfair for Government to expect viewers to foot the bill to protect their existing services from 4G interference.

"We also believe it would be in consumers' interests for the Government and Ofcom to mandate a trial of 4G services in a limited area before proceeding to national roll out.

"Freeview will continue to represent the interests of all our viewers and ensure that when the roll out of 4G mobile broadband begins next year they are not overly inconvenienced, nor have to bear a disproportionate cost."