4G threat to Freeview not as bad as feared, study suggests

The rollout of 800MHz 4G services across the UK may not affect as many Freeview customers as first thought, suggests the results of a recent field trial.

At800, an industry body offering corrective support to Freeview customers who suffer 4G-induced interference, recently carried out a live test to help forecast how many UK households are likely to affected by the launch of 4G.

The organisation, which is funded by mobile operators EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, chose Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis in the West Midlands as the site for its study.

Around 22,000 homes in the vicinity of the area's 800MHz 4G masts were contacted by at800 in the run up to the trial and were instructed to contact the organisation if they experienced Freeview interference once 4G was switched on.

Before the trial was carried out, at800 predicted that around 120 homes would be affected, but - in total only 15 were.

"Over 100 calls were logged by at800 from these [22,000] households," said at800 in a statement. "Professional aerial installers, as well as TV signal experts from at800, the BBC and Ofcom visited the locations that reported problems to verify their cause."

The results suggest early estimates about the number of Freeview customers expected to experience service trouble as the result of the 4G switch-on could be wide of the mark.

For example, the Government's media secretary Ed Vaizey warned last May that the launch of 4G could result in nearly two million homes losing access to Freeview services.

All of the affected households that took part in the at800 pilot featured television systems with signal amplifiers, either in communal blocks or domestic installations where the amplifier was attached to the aerial, at800 added.

"A filter that blocks 4G signals at 800 MHz from reaching TV tuners resolved the problems seen by viewers when installed between aerial and amplifier," the organisation said.

Simon Beresford-Wylie, chief executive of at800, said the test results will help improve the organisation's forecasting model.

"Further extensive evaluation will occur during April and May as masts are switched on for tests across larger urban areas," he added.