The demonstration, involving the deployment of Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) on the HFC access network, delivered a download speed of 8.7 Gbps and an upload speed of 1.5 Gbps.

NBN Co’s HFC network provides services via retail providers to around 2.5 million homes and businesses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, which are currently able to get near gigabit speeds.

According to NBN Co, the trial showed that fibre-like speeds could potentially be unlocked for millions of households and businesses connected to the HFC network.

The new equipment - DOCSIS 4.0 cable modem - digitises the DOCSIS 3.1 DAA HFC optical node in the street, and in conjunction with NBN Co’s deep fibre deployment, is expected to not only increase data capacity, but improve the performance, resiliency and reliability of the HFC network, while also reducing power consumption.

In addition, new generation amplifiers aim to unlock additional capacity and enable efficient remote maintenance of these devices.

“The investments we continue to make in fibre and HFC are expected to enable higher speeds through greater capacity aimed at enabling Australia to be equipped with the reliable and resilient infrastructure it needs to support the nation’s rapidly growing data needs," said Dion Ljubanovic, Chief Network Officer at NBN Co.

“With DAA technology and Amplifier upgrades, NBN Co aims to grow the available Radio Frequency bandwidth over the HFC network to enable more DOCSIS 3.1® channels.

“Coupled with DOCSIS 4.0® Cable Modems to aggregate these channels, it is expected that wholesale capacities approaching near 10 Gbps can be unlocked, similar to NBN Co’s fibre network.

“This successful trial demonstrates the potential future technical capability of the HFC network to deliver fibre-like higher speeds in both the downstream and upstream direction which may help support the data needs of millions of households and businesses across the nation.”