Ofcom confirms completion date for 4G-Freeview reuse

Ofcom has confirmed that a large section of radio spectrum will be repurposed this week to deliver 4G services, five months earlier than planned.

The mobile regulator said work to clear the spectrum, which was previously used to broadcast digital TV channels, has been ongoing for four years and will be completed tomorrow.

The work required 600 transmitter upgrades, as well as a mass retune of TV receivers across the UK.

The final TV retune will be completed by Freeview watchers in northern Scotland on Wednesday, and pave the way for mobile operators to start rolling out their 4G services in earnest shortly after.

The work has been completed five months earlier than originally planned, after Ofcom secured an accelerated release date for these Freeview frequencies back in 2012.

There had been concerns raised that reusing this 800 MHz spectrum would result in television interference for Freeview users as the 4G rollout gets underway.

However, tests carried out by 4G interference testing firm At800 in major UK towns have detected few problems to date.

Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said the organisation is "clearing the path" for 4G mobile broadband services across the UK.

"4G services will reach 98 per cent of the UK population indoors and even more when outdoors which will provide a significant boost for rural businesses and consumers," Richards added.

At the moment, mobile operator EE is the only network provider offering 4G services to its UK customers, after Ofcom gave the firm permission to reuse its 1800 MHz spectrum allocation to provide the superfast service back in August 2012.

The decision has given EE a significant head start on its competitors, as many of them were unable to launch their own superfast services until the outcome of the Ofcom 4G spectrum auction was announced in February.

EE won rights to use 800 MHz spectrum in Ofcom's 4G auction, along with Vodafone and Three. O2 also has a licence to use the, but Ofcom has stipulated that it must cover 98 per cent of the UK indoors by 2017.