The advance of 5G has been eating ground to DTT. In the last 5 years it has had to move twice due to the digital dividends imposed by the Government that have led to it ending up ceding its land to the expansion of 4G and 5G. In the first place, it had to release the 800 MHz band and more recently the 700 MHz band. Changes that have brought with them interference in Digital Terrestrial Television.
When 4G arrived in our country, an auction was held for the 800 MHz band, where the DTT channels were located, moving to the 700 MHz band. This was accompanied by occasional interference that was resolved by contacting the website Arrives 800, a trademark registered by Elecnor and a company in charge of providing a solution to all those adaptation problems that arise with 4G. History repeats itself with the arrival of 5G. Fifth generation networks occupy the 700 MHz band, giving rise to a shift of all DTT channels to 600 MHz. What does this mean? That it becomes necessary again to retune the channels on those TVs that use the signal by antenna.
The dreaded interference in DTT
Although there is a clear downward trend in classic television consumption and streaming platforms are taking control of the content that Spaniards consume, the truth is that no one, or almost no one, wants to be left without the possibility of watching the channels of DTT.
In order to ensure that future 5G networks did not interfere with DTT, the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures (SETID) carried out pilot tests in the municipalities of Alcázar de San Juan and La Solana to analyze the possible effects that would occur once mobile communications emissions in the 694-790 MHz frequency band and DTT emissions in the 470-694 MHz band coexist.
The conclusions obtained were very similar to the results obtained in the tests for the 800 MHz band, and basically denote that, in some areas of Spain, it is very likely that we are not going to say goodbye to interference. This happens especially when the telephone base stations are spatially aligned with the DTT stations before both signals reach our home.
CNMC graphic explanation
who to claim
The CNMC indicates that it must be the operators themselves who notify citizens that they may be affected by the arrival of 5G in their territories. The entity that handles this type of claim is 700 arrive that works together with the operators to guarantee solutions to possible incidents.
The main affected are usually homes or buildings near mobile phone stations that watch DTT channels through an antenna. On the other hand, the orientation of the antenna or the type of television reception installation you have also influences. The deployment of mobile services would not affect all those people who receive the television signal through cable/fiber optics, satellite or the Internet.
If you detect interference, the best thing you can do is get in direct contact with Arrive 700 via the free phone number 900 833 999 (Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) or through the Contact Form enabled on your website. For their part, the operators have committed to solving this type of interference by installing filters at no cost that ensure that the 5G signal and DTT do not mix, thus disappearing the happy interference.
