Spain probes DTT interference from France
July 1, 2020
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish Administration is looking into DTT signal interference in Asturias, north of Spain, from a French DTT network. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has reported the problem to the French Government.
While the problems are being solved, the Asturias Administration has proposed to increase signal strength, change the polarity and even use streaming broadcasts for services like TDT Channels.
Last time interferences occurred was in December 2019 with a lack of rain and clouds causing the sea to reflect the French DTT signals. The failure is normally caused by the so-called fading effect with water vapor (due to the heat and humidity of the sea) modifying the propagation conditions of the signal.
Another type of interference in Spain is between DTT and 4G technology since the 800 MHz band used by 4G operators is so close to that used by the DTT operators – an issue that should be sorted out when the second digital migration is completed in October 31st.