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Telstra may switch to cable after govt FTTN loss

Telstra has revealed it's already testing a 100Mbps upgrade to its cable network -- and may pursue a cable future if any federal decision on fibre-to-the-node does not go the company's way.
Written by Jo Best, Contributor

Telstra has revealed it's already testing a 100Mbps upgrade to its cable network -- and may pursue a cable future if any federal decision on fibre-to-the-node does not go the company's way.

Speaking at the company's investor day in Sydney, Telstra's CTO Hugh Bradlow said the company is already experimenting with pre DOCSIS 3.0, an upgrade to its exisitng HFC (hybrid fibre coaxial) cable network.

The experiment is so far providing 75Mbps in Sydney and 100Mbps connectivity over the HFC cable network in Melbourne, Bradlow said.

DOCSIS may also provide a plan B for Telstra in the event that any future fibre-to-the-node decision -- looming on both Coalition and Labor roadmaps -- does not go Telstra's way, according to the telco's CEO Sol Trujillo.

"What we do is we spend our time thinking about options. As CEO, I have to think, if that happens what to we do? ... That's a series of options we've explored. If we need to go left, need to go right or need to go down the middle, that's what we'll do," he said.

"I think if we chose -- and it's an if -- if we chose to roll out a footprint associated with HFC and DOCSIS, it would be equal to or less than [the cost of FTTN], Trujillo added.

Telstra increased speeds across its cable network earlier this year to 17Mbps, and up to 30Mbps in Sydney and Melbourne -- speeds that could also hint at Telstra moving further into IPTV.

"Speed requirements went from 256Kbps a few years ago to multi-megabits now," Bradlow said.

"We're about to enter the video-on-demand era, we know that in an IPTV environment to deliver standard definition [needs] 12Mbps. Very soon high-definition will require the doubling of speeds again [to 25Mbps]."

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