Interference to cable television due to mobile usage in the Digital Dividend - Analysis

The use of mobile applications in the 800 MHz band, which forms part of the `Digital Dividend´, may cause interference to cable TV signals under certain conditions. The new mobile applications (called LTE, Long Term Evolution) use frequency bands also used in cable TV networks. This paper discusses the results of an investigation carried out by the Dutch Radiocommunications Agency and University of Twente. In this investigation an interference model has been derived which shows that the interference probability from mobile applications in the Digital Dividend band is low: on average 5000 Dutch households would experience interference per TV evening. In addition, we propose a number of measures for individual households that can reduce the interference probability to almost zero. Especially better cables and set top boxes or moving the LTE mobile further away from the TV are effective measures.