Residents near Birmingham, UK may notice Freeview TV interference including poor picture quality or even loss of channels during the next two weeks, but don’t worry as it’s just a temporary thing caused by tests with the 4G spectrum.
4G is the next generation of mobile phone technology and the UK is preparing to go all out with it before the end of the year. The trouble is that the spectrum used to broadcast 4G could disrupt the existing Freeview TV service.
Ofcom is aware that 4G could cause problems for telly lovers up and down the UK and so starting today, two weeks of testing will be carried out near to Birmingham to find out what trouble it could cause, if any.
A company by the name of Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited has been allocated £180 million to find out whether 4G will knock out the Freeview TV service and then act on it appropriately. Starting today they will switch on the 800MHz 4G spectrum near Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis in the UK to see whether it will affect the Freeview reception in nearby homes.
Residents in Dudley, Birmingham and nearby areas are being encouraged to report in any problems noticed over the next two weeks to give the company an idea as to whether steps will need to be taken across the whole country over the next few months as 4G becomes more widespread.
So what do we do if 4G doesn’t play nicely with Freeview? Any homes affected will be able to install a filter to eliminate the issue, and these will be dished out to help ease any reception issues. The company has already set up a website with plenty of information and help with fitting filters to your home, which you can check out here.
We’re hoping that 4G and Freeview can coexist nicely without the need for any further developments in broadcasting, but we’ll have to wait two weeks to find out for sure.