Last month there was a lot of worry and gnashing of teeth concerning the possible disruptive impact of 4G telecoms signals upon Freeview TV reception. Ofcom had estimated that “up to 900,000 homes could experience interference with their TV signal” in the wake of widespread 4G availability, reported the BBC. They also reported that an organisation has been set up, called at800, to measure and test potential impact in certain test areas. Now the early tests have been completed it looks like any big worries were unwarranted.
Findings from the at800 tests, completed in the West Midlands*, showed that just 15 (fifteen) out of 22,000 households in the sample area complained of any interference with their Freeview reception. The organisation received around 100 calls of complaint but when investigators from at800, the BBC and Ofcom visited the premises only 15 of the complaints were found to have 4G signal interference as the cause. If Ofcom’s predictions had been borne out then around 120 homes from the West Midlands would have suffered various degrees of Freeview interference.
The at800 website informs us that every affected Freeview user had a communal or domestic TV installation using a signal amplifier attached to the aerial. An 800MHz filter “installed between aerial and amplifier” fixed all the problems that were found. Furthermore “Domestic at800 filters are smaller than a pack of cards and when installed correctly block 4G frequencies at 800 MHz, enabling viewers to receive and watch Freeview as normal.” Tech Radar reports that premises affected by the 4G switch-on “will be gifted a free signal booster box” filter device.
Simon Beresford-Wylie, chief executive of at800, said “This was a useful, small-scale, test. We’ll now improve our forecast model and look at the approach we use to tackle the issues we’ve seen. Further extensive evaluation will occur during April and May as masts are switched on for tests across larger urban areas.”
Details of the larger second phase of testing centred upon urban areas will be announced shortly. at800 is funded by the UK mobile networks and has a £180 million kitty to undertake research and fix people’s 4G interference problems.
*Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis areas.
