Report: 4G phones will ruin digital TV

Research carried out by European trade body Cable Europe has appeared to confirm that 4G mobile phones will interfere with cable TV if used within six metres of a set top box.

According to The Independent, the report says it’s "very likely" that a large amount of users will experience interference to their services including even your neighbours.

UK cable TV provider Virgin Media has apparently already had talks with the government after it held tests that confirmed the devices could be a problem.

The UK is due to fully switch over to digital TV by 2012, and the bandwidth freed will be up for grabs by mobile phone companies for the likes of new 4G services.

The digital switchover in New Zealand was announced last month and will begin in Hawke's Bay and the West Coast in September 2012. The rest of the country follows suit in three stages before the final deadline of November 2013.

"We expect this spectrum will be ideal for 4G mobile technologies, which will give New Zealanders access to faster mobile broadband services and with improved coverage,” said Comms and IT Minister, Steven Joyce.

The Independent writes, “This issue is worrying both the mobile and cable TV industries. Many have been meeting informally in a bid to head off a potentially disastrous issue for them. While the problem is several years off in the UK, the battle is already playing out across Europe.”