"4G networks to disrupt TV signals for two million homes"

The government is selling some radio spectrum previously used for television broadcasting

Nearly two million homes will have their television reception interrupted when 4G mobile networks are introduced, the Government has said.

The culture minister Ed Vaizey said 945,000 households that use signal amplifiers could be afftected, as well as 953,000 households that rely on communal aerials.

The mobile operators are currently preparing to introduce 4G networks, which offer mobile internet access typically 10 times faster than 3G, over the next three years. An Ofcom auction of radio spectrum licences has been delayed by legal wrangling, however.

Once the networks are built, Mr Vaizey said, the operators will have to pay for ways to mitigate the interference they cause.

A new independent body, "MitCo", will receive £180m in funding from operators who buy 4G licenses in the 800MHz range, the frequency most likely to affect Freeview signals. It will be respoonsible for buying and installing filters in homes to mitigate interference, but will not cover "non-standard" or indoor aerials.

According to Ofcom, once MitCo has fitted filters 8,500 households could still suffer from interference.

The issue was highlighted by Mr Vaizey in a written Parliamentary answer.

Those living near new 4G masts are most liklely to suffer interference. The Voice of the Listener and Viewer has called the plans "a major threat to the principle of universal provision in public service broadcasting".

"These proposals to sell spectrum to mobile phone operators in order to raise millions for the Treasury could remove the option of free-to-air television from millions of viewers," said spokeswoman Sophie Chalk.

"This runs completely against the UK's system of public service broadcasting whereby there is universal access for all citizens to programmes made by the main terrestrial channels. It is an outrage."