Bris suburbs to trial pay TV-NBN cables

Two suburbs in Brisbane will trial a new plan for the National Broadband Network to use existing pay TV cables for high-speed internet.

Redcliffe and Slacks Creek have been selected to take part in the construction trial, which is designed to ramp up the NBN rollout.

Announcing the measure, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said using existing hybrid fibre coaxial (HCF) cables, previously used for pay TV services, was a pragmatic way to ensure faster web speeds for homes and businesses.

Deals signed last December mean these cables will be progressively incorporated into the NBN framework from mid-year.

Three million premises nationwide already have access to the pay TV cable, Mr Turnbull said.

By using the existing cables, the government will save money and time in the wider rollout, he said.

"That will deliver, in the next few years, really high-speed broadband," he said.

The current trial will start to fill in gaps where new lead-ins would be put in to make the HCF coverage complete, such as in the 6000 premises in Redcliffe that aren't connected yet.

But Mr Turnbull denied using existing cables meant the technological infrastructure would age quicker, insisting the plan was a flexible and agile one.

"Nothing is future proof," he said.

The NBN network is scheduled to start in 2016.