Telstra expects an upgrade and expansion of its Hybrid Fibre Coaxial network would cost possibly less than the $4.1 billion spend it has proposed for a major city fibre-to-the-node deployment.

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo confirmed yesterday that developing the HFC network as an FTTN alternative has been given considerable thought. The company is trialling a DOCSIS 3.0 HFC upgrade in Melbourne and Sydney ahead of a possible deployment to existing lines and potential expansion of the network beyond its current reach.

A DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade for Telstra HFC has been speculated for some months, with Optus also considering a similar deployment for its network. Critics of national FTTN plans have pointed to the two fibre networks as evidence Australia does not need a complete new broadband infrastructure. Telstra has blamed the political and regulatory environment for it stalling its own mooted FTTN investment.

Trujillo said HFC was listed as an alternative to FTTN. He said, “we spend our time thinking about options… our job, my job, is to make sure that we have plenty of options for shareholders to get benefits however life evolves, marketplace changes, technology changes, regulatory changes, whatever they might be and that’s what we’ve got in front of us.” Trujillo added, “if we chose… to roll out a footprint that was associated with HFC and DOCSIS 3.0 we could do it at equal to or less than FTTN.”

Telstra has posed a $4.1 billion spend for a FTTN network centred on Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast and reaching more than 50% of residences and 60% of business premises nationally. Its HFC network reaches 2.5 million metropolitan homes with 1.8 million connections in Melbourne and Sydney recently upgraded to receive a maximum 30Mbps (Cable Extreme).

Trujillo would not be drawn on whether the regulatory immunity of its HFC network made it a more attractive option that FTTN, which would come with regulated access prices and terms. He said, “we’re not drawing any conclusions until we know whoever wins the election, what their objectives are, what their plans are. But we have options and we are already expressing our options in the market as with our Cable Extreme offer, which is capable of delivering High Definition services.” He added, “we believe in utilising the infrastructure that our shareholders invested in.”

Trujillo said DOCSIS 3.0 could put Telstra ahead of competitors delivering home and business broadband services. He said, “if you look at some companies that have migrated business customers to these networks they are starting to move up the curve in terms of the services they deliver.”

Telstra CTO Hugh Bradlow said the DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding trials are delivering 75Mbps in Sydney and 100Mbps in Melbourne. He said the upgrade could increase transmission to up to 250Mbps. “We’re working on a range of technology platforms that will allow us to scale into that future world. We’ve got copper solutions, cable solutions and fibre solutions,” Bradlow said.

Tim Marshall 

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