Ofcom reckons up to 780,000 homes could be affected when 4G services eventually appear.

£180m of 4G auction dosh to pay to fix TV interference

The government will allocate £180 million from the upcoming auction of radio spectrum for 4G services to combat television signal interference resulting from the new technology.

"There will be some interference when 4G services are rolled-out but we will have the solutions in place to eliminate the disruption to television viewers," said Communications Minister Ed Vaizey.

Ofcom had earlier revealed that over three quarters of a million homes could face interference to the Freeview signals if they are located close by 4G signal towers.

The government scheme will mostly be used to fit filters to televisions that will knock down the errant signals so they shouldn’t impact tuner devices such as set-top boxes and televisions.

That said, some Freeview boxes may be so adversely affected they will need swapping out and the government scheme is to account for that eventuality as well.

"More and more of us are using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet," Vaizey said of the arrival of 4G services. "Releasing more spectrum is essential to enable industry to meet this growing demand."

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