NBN Co, the company building Australia’s broadband access network, has achieved trial download speeds of 994Mbps, or 1Gbps, during a technology trial on the Hybrid-Fibre Coaxial (HFC) access network.
The in-field trial in Templestowe, Victoria, demonstrates the potential for around 2.5 million homes and businesses that use or are due to be connected to the nbn HFC access network across Australia.
During the trial, next generation DOCSIS 3.1 technology demonstrated its capability over an expanded spectrum range to support future wholesale speed upgrades using a standard nbn HFC connection box in the home. The trial provided new insights to guide future technical development and planning.
A related lab test with DOCSIS 3.1 demonstrated trial upload speeds of 988Mbps*. Both trials used the expanded spectrum range inside the coaxial cable that nbn will progressively start using as part of the introduction of DOCSIS 3.1 technology.
These latest demonstrations build upon an ongoing program to improve customer experience on the HFC network, including technology upgrades and infrastructure improvements geared towards providing an HFC network that delivers on customer expectations today and into the future.
nbn Chief Technology Officer, Ray Owen said, “This is an important day for nbn. It shows how a specific technology – HFC – is evolving to meet customer demand for greater capacity from their broadband connection over time.
“It’s good news for both residential and business customers using HFC as we have demonstrated both the wholesale download and upload capacity of this technology.
“As we work to complete our network rollout, we’re constantly looking at what’s over the horizon for all of our technology assets and how we can evolve our network as demand grows.”