EBU technical director Lieven Vermaele has warned of interference to digital TV services should mobile TV services be allowed to broadcast in the same frequency bands. “In many European countries, digital terrestrial TV in these bands has already become a major success based on the availability of free-to-air TV services, says Vermaele. “However, this success story could be jeopardised by the introduction of mobile phone services in broadcasting frequency bands.”
Vermaele’s comments come as the latest phase of the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) gets underway in Geneva. The ITU will be discussing which frequency bands are most suitable for mobile TV broadcasting and the spectrum under consideration includes UHF Bands IV & V (470 – 862 MHz) in ITU Region 1, (Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East), which are currently used for TV broadcasting.
A recent study by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) highlighted the problem of potential interference between mobile phones and TV services. In the analogue environment the interference takes the form of wavy lines in the background of the picture, but in digital the picture can vanish altogether.
Endorsing the CEPT study, Vermale said the ITU should study the options before making any decision on band sharing.
