As previously reported, Optus has reached agreement with NBN Co on the transfer of its HFC network to the NBN. A similar arrangement has been struck between NBN Co and Telstra.

So instead of simply decommissioning the HFC networks after the FTTP or FTTN flavours of the NBN have been rolled out in a particular area, the two companies will transfer ownership of (parts of) those networks to NBN Co, which will upgrade them so there is sufficient capacity to serve all the premises in the footprint, and to support the existence of multiple service providers.

In Telstra's case, the agreement covers both the copper and HFC networks, although Foxtel will continue to be delivered over the HFC network.

Announcing its deal, Optus said "Optus will continue to supply services to customers using its HFC network in areas where the NBN is still to be built or customers have yet to be migrated. Customers will be progressively migrated to the NBN once NBN Co has integrated Optus' HFC network into the NBN."

NBN Co CEO Bill Murrow (pictured) recently stated that the areas that will receive NBN-delivered services via HFC would be announced in the first half of 2015.

There's no real indication when NBN HFC services will be available, but with 1.7 million homes connected to the existing HFC networks and another 1.5 million passed but not connected, the HFC development should make it easy for NBN Co to meet its revised goal of having at least started construction to around 3.3 million premises by June 2016.

Nor is it a certainty that NBN Co will actually use any particular parts of either Telstra's or Optus's HFC network. While further brownfields FTTP rollouts are off the table, it is possible that fibre will be deployed in areas where neither the copper nor HFC networks can be economically upgraded to the required standard.

According to Simon Hackett (NB: although Hackett's comments are based on his 'inside knowledge' as an NBN Co director, they should not be taken as NBN Co's position) the plan is to connect all of the standalone premises in an NBN HFC area to that network. That doesn't affect existing customers, other than in a hypothetical situation where they are currently connected to the 'wrong' network if NBN Co decides to keep only one of the two HFC networks serving that particular street.

According to a draft document published in October, the network boundary point will be the coaxial F connector, with the customer responsible for providing a suitable cable modem. It also specifies DOCSIS 3.0 compliance, and mandates the ability to bond at least 16 - and preferably 32 - downstream channels, and at last four - and preferably eight - upstream channels.

This appears to mean that long-term customers that haven't upgraded to Optus's or Telstra's DOCSIS 3.0 service will be faced with the expense of buying a new modem when the cable in their street is moved across to NBN's control, even if their selected NBN plan doesn't involve higher speeds than the currently installed modem can handle.

But for many, that would be a small price to pay to access the higher upload speeds that will be available on HFC after NBN Co has upgraded the network. According to Hackett, upstream rates will be in the 30-40Mbps range - very similar to the 40Mbps offered on the current top speed tier of NBN FTTP service.

And moving from an Optus or Telstra owned HFC to one owned by NBN Co gives customers the opportunity to switch to a different ISP without having to change to a (typically lower performing) ADSL connection.

An Optus spokesperson told iTWire that the company will continue to offer "plans that help maintain and build our share of the growing retail broadband market."

There will be an 18-month grace period between NBN HFC services becoming available in a particular area and the termination of Optus HFC services. We understand the same applies to Telstra.

Customers will be held to their existing contracts, although that isn't a big deal as Optus's current plans are the same price regardless of technology.

But the Optus spokesperson avoided iTWire's question about whether all current customers' plans will be grandfathered after the change to NBN. So if you're on an old plan but already out of contract, it sounds like you'll need to decide whether to move onto a then-current Optus NBN plan or switch to an NBN plan from another provider.

All the spokesperson said on this point was that "Optus is committed to providing customers with a range of plans over the NBN including IP telephony, broadband and entertainment services" and "We remain focused on delivering competitive plans and brilliant service for our HFC customers as we transition them to the NBN."

Telstra had not responded to iTWire's questions at the time of publication, though in announcing the deal CEO David Thodey said "The customer experience and continuity of service for retail and wholesale services moving from Telstra’s networks to the NBN has been front of mind throughout the negotiation."

NBN Co's plans to improve the HFC networks are not just about improved upload speeds: "The deployment also includes a laundry list of network upgrades and capacity expansions to deliver high performance, low contention-ratio 100 megabit downstream rates," wrote Hackett.

He also wrote:

I am personally quite looking forward to the scenario in which the NBN turns up at my house, delivering me a 100 megabit broadband service via the cable box that is already on my wall right now, and turning off the copper line sitting just above it.

This will get me a 100 megabit NBN service with a high upload speed, far sooner than I would otherwise get it, and at entirely comparable performance levels to the FTTP rollout areas. And at exactly the same retail price.

I will also make it a personal mission to advocate that the performance (including upstream performance) of these services is up to scratch – and that it is comparable to the outcome in FTTP NBN areas.

Comment: I'm with Hackett on this. When the original plans for the NBN were announced I suggested elsewhere that Telstra and Optus should be encouraged to 'vend in' their HFC networks as that would bring increased competition to the fast broadband market more quickly.

And the area around my home never fell inside the NBN FTTP three-year rollout horizon, so - while I still expect to see the eventual replacement of the copper and HFC networks with fibre - this development is likely to bring me and my neighbours a 'fibre equivalent' service more quickly, and therefore is very welcome given the Government's directive to effectively cease the brownfields FTTP rollout. Those who just missed out on FTTP may currently feel they've been consigned to the second-best pile, but they will probably change their minds if NBN Co does as good a job as Hackett says the company intends.