Tests to see if 4G puts your Freeview on the fritz are coming to London. Homes in south-east London will next week be tested to see if 4G LTE signals interfere with digital TV reception, with a special number to ring if you are affected.
A special body called at800 will beam 4G LTE signals across 170,000 homes in South East London. The tests are required because 4G LTE signals zap around on the 800MHz band, shoulder-to-shoulder with the digital TV signals flying about in the 700MHz band.
Fingers crossed you won't have a problem though: at800's trial in the Midlands saw just 15 homes affected out of a possible 22,000. It seems that unless you have a signal booster you don't have anything to worry about.
It may be a different story in the densely populated environs of the big smoke, but if you are affected the networks have put £180m in a kitty to come round and fit a filter betwixt your aerial and TV, although that may prove complicated if the receiving equipment in question is located atop a block of flats.
The tests start on 15 April. If you live in Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark or Tower Hamlets and you start noticing problems with your telly signal, contact at800 by calling 0333 3131 800 and telling them when the problems happened.
The potential interference won't kick off properly until O2, Vodafone, and Three launch their 4G services in the next couple of months -- EE, the UK's first 4G LTE network, uses a different portion of the spectrum. EE now covers half the UK population but faces criticism about data and prices even as it doubles speeds.
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