[Yr7-10it] super-fast cable broadband (1)

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Telstra Media Release
March 10, 2009

http://news.iguana2.com/ainvestor/ASX/TLS/315051 

Telstra unveils super-fast cable broadband - Melbourne first to be 
upgraded 
 
Telstra today announced that its hybrid fibre coaxial cable broadband 
network in Melbourne will be upgraded to 100Mbps – more than triple the 
current peak speed – by Christmas. 
 
Using new technology already successfully deployed in several cable 
networks overseas, Telstra will immediately begin work to turbo-charge 
its five-city cable network.   
 
Melbourne is stage one of Telstra’s deployment of next generation super-
fast broadband technologies into its cable network, which already passes 
2.5 million homes in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.     
 
Cable, along with Telstra’s other fixed-line infrastructure, will be a 
key driver of next generation broadband in Australia, as it is around the 
world.  This cable upgrade will position Telstra to deliver on its 
vision of a world-class fixed-line infrastructure that complements our 
world-leading Next G™ mobile broadband network in delivering services 
that meet our customers’ needs.  
 
Work will start immediately with the installation of DOCSIS 3.0 software 
and related infrastructure in the Melbourne cable network. Telstra will 
invest about $300 million in the cable upgrade this calendar year. 
 
 
This upgrade will increase the peak download speeds in Melbourne homes to 
100Mbps, with further upgrades potentially to speeds of up to 200Mbps. 
 
It will build on the recent BigPond Cable Extreme upgrade, which already 
provides download speeds on the cable network of up to 30Mbps to 1.8 
million homes, with another 700,000 homes having speeds up to 17Mbps. 
 
Telstra estimates that nearly one million Melbourne homes stand to 
benefit from the experience of super-fast broadband once the upgrade to 
provide speeds of up to 100Mbps is completed. 
 
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said the cable upgrade continues Telstra’s 
strategy of bringing high-speed broadband to Australians, as the company 
has done with the Next G™ network. Next G™ covers 99 per cent of the 
population and is engineered to peak network download speeds of 21Mbps

“BigPond Cable Extreme transformed the cable network into a high-speed 
broadband network,” Mr Trujillo said.  “Now we are going to the next 
level: super-fast broadband with download speeds among the highest in the 
world.  
 
“Late last year, Telstra foreshadowed that we would continue our 
investment in our cable network and, with the DOCSIS 3.0 software now 
well-established internationally, we have the ability to dramatically 
increase speeds into Australian homes. 
 
 “Melbourne will be the first city to benefit from the cable network’s 
super-fast broadband speeds. This broadband upgrade will bring the next 
generation of the internet to Melburnians, enabling new work-
from-home, learning, security, entertainment, health care and energy-
saving choices at home.  It will help spawn an innovative, video-based, 
applications and content services sector in Australia.   
 
“It will enable households to do the things that they want to do, but 
can’t do at today’s broadband speeds. 
 
“Families will be able to choose a high-definition movie from an online 
catalogue and download it in a little over a minute to watch on the 
family’s big-screen TV.  At the same time, they could watch their 
favourite sport on FOXTEL in high-definition, with instant match 
statistics at their fingertips and, in the near future, control of camera 
angles.  Simultaneously, they could share a video file in a high-
resolution video conference with friends and family, as well as review 
test results with their doctor, without leaving home.” 
 
Mr Trujillo continued: “As well as super-fast broadband, it is important 
that this upgrade will turn the cable network into a two-way, fully 
interactive platform paving the way to an array of existing and next 
generation services for customers.   
 
“As Telstra has done with Next G™ and Next IP™ in wireless and business 
broadband, we intend to leverage our cable network to lead the market in 
providing world leading services to meet our customers’ individual 
needs.”  
 
 
Telstra Media Contacts: 
Andrew Butcher 
Tel:  03 9634 8739 

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Cheers,
Stephen