Only 33 Swedish residents have complained that their TV reception is suffering from interference caused by LTE operating in the same 800MHz band, and the Swedish telecoms regulator, Post & Telestyrelsen (PTS), has found no evidence that KTE transmissions will cause interference with TV broadcasts.
PTS issued LTE licences in the 800 MHz band in March 2011 to Hi3G, Telia, Telenor and Tele2 to expand coverage, according to Telegeography. The avoidance of causing disruption to TV channels operating in the same spectrum was one of the conditions of the licences.
However, the PTS has received 33 complaints from TV watchers, triggering the government body to conduct around 10 field measurement tests. PTS was unable to establish that the interference, under the definition set out in the LTE licence conditions, was caused by 800 MHz transmissions.
Separately, LTE interference is being taken more seriously in the UK with plans revealed by UK FreeTV that over 100 Freeview digital TV relay transmitters have been added to the 33 main transmitters already catalogued for retuning. The work to retune these transmitters will take place next year with the actual timing being dependent on when UK operators switch on their LTE services.
A budget of £180 million has been set aside by the operators to help digital TV viewers with the costs to retune their set-top boxes or move to FreeSat reception.
For more:
- see this Telegeography article
- see this UK FreeTV article
Related Articles:
UK broadcasters: £180M not enough to combat LTE interference
Report: French LTE trials disrupting digital TV channels
Ofcom: LTE at 800MHz will cause TV interference, £100m fix needed
LTE handsets could cause interference, warns cable trade body
Interference from LTE could harm EU 'wireless broadband for all' initiative