ARRIS upstages Cisco to win "long term" NBN Co HFC contract
The deal is reportedly worth $400 million and could potentially reach 3.4 million premises.
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According to NBN Co, using HFC technology will allow NBN Co to build upon existing cable infrastructure which will mean significant cost savings for Australian taxpayers over alternative technologies.
It also will allow "advanced" broadband speeds to be delivered to subscribers across Australia.
Arris will upgrade the network to the backwards compatible Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.0 standard.
The present network is not capable of delivering high broadband speeds as a significant proportion of the equipment is made to a DOCSIS 1.0 standard.
According to NBN Co, this upgrade will allow it to enhance and manage its cable access network while providing a roadmap for possible future migration to DOCSIS 3.1 architecture.
The DOCSIS 3.0 standard has been used overseas to deliver download speeds of up to 500Mbps, while the DOCSIS 3.1 standard can deliver up to 1 gigabit per second, according to some vendors.
"This will ensure that Australia's broadband network can and will evolve to meet the ever-growing expectations of consumers and businesses," according to an NBN Co statement.
The project will deploy ARRIS E6000TM CER (Converged Edge Router) along with a number of additional ARRIS product lines, including: ARRIS Access Technologies and Supplies (ATS) products (CORWave forward path transmitters and OM4100 optical receivers) and Assurance solutions for service assurance.
E6000 CER provides redundancy of 99.999 per cent and greater density.
Since its introduction in 2013, it has been deployed at communications companies such as Comcast (US), SK Broadband (South Korea) and Liberty Global (Europe).
ARRIS also counts Telstra as one of its largest Australian customers.
The company's Global Services arm was also selected for the full deployment and network integration of this national broadband service.
NBN Co chief technology officer, Dennis Steiger, said NBN Co was committed to ensuring that everyone in Australia had access to high-speed broadband services.
"An HFC network represents the fastest and most cost-effective way to deliver it to consumers and businesses in the existing HFC network areas," he said.
"Our goal is to achieve high-speed broadband as quickly possible, with an eye on future technologies that will secure our place as a global technology leader."
Overseas experts will be brought in the run the project, although local workers will also be used in the deployment.
Steiger said significant investments were being made in HFC broadband technology on a global scale.
"We are committed to ensuring that Australia is at the forefront of this movement." ARRIS president of network and Cloud and global services, Bruce McClleland, the company was honoured to be selected by NBN Co and "whole-heartedly" endorsed the use of HFC technology to proliferate broadband across Australia.
"The ARRIS portfolio of Products and Services are at the heart of many Broadband networks around the world, and we look forward to expanding our presence in the Asia Pacific region. We are delighted to be working with NBN Co at such an important stage in this initiative."
McClelland said the strategy was to rapidly upgrade and leverage the existing infrastructure.
"We think using HFC allows us to go much more quickly. Having said that I would think there will be variety of technologies being used over the next six years - being flexible with that choice makes an awful lot of sense.
"There's a perception that HFC is a second rate service. We are just re-iterating again that this is a world class broadband service.
"This is a big, long term strategic partnership. HFC is going to be one of the cornerstone technologies for broadband."