On Tuesday, the National Broadband Network (nbn) in Australia revealed lab trials of DOCSIS 3.1 conducted in Melbourne have achieved downstream speeds of 1 Gbps. The tests delivered upstream speeds of 100 Mbps, which is more than double the current highest 40 Mbps upload over the nbn network.

The operator has slated more lab testing of DOCSIS 3.1 for August, and field trials for December. Commercial rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 services by nbn is projected for 2018 for eligible homes and businesses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and the Gold Coast.

“DOCSIS 3.1 is going to be able to provide fantastic gigabit potential for end users – just as our fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network does today,” nbn CEO Bill Morrow says. “The best news is that we will be able to bring gigabit broadband to these premises far more quickly, cost effectively, and with less disruption to end users than alternate technologies in these busy urban areas.”