Optus has announced it has reached agreement with NBN Co on the future of its Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network to enable the accelerated roll-out of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Under the terms of the agreement, Optus will progressively transfer ownership of its coaxial cable and ancillary assets to NBN Co, while retaining ownership of strategic aerial fibre assets used to connect mobile base stations and business customers.

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.

Minter Ellison has been the principal advisor to Optus on the renegotiation of the HFC deal with NBN Co, with a team led by TMT (Technology, Media & Telecommunications) Industry Group head Anthony Lloyd, assisted by partners Paul Wentworth (Corporate), Glen Sauer (Corporate), Paul Schoff (Competition ), Justin Oliver (Competition), Karen Payne (Tax), Rhys Guild (Tax) and Nathan Deveson (Tax) .

The team's work included advising on all negotiations, documentation, the ACCC approval process and tax related matters.

"This is a strategically important transaction for Optus and for Australia's retail broadband market. We are thrilled to have been Optus' advisers on this landmark transaction," lead partner Anthony Lloyd said.

The agreement will see Optus share spectrum within its coaxial network with NBN Co to enable it to offer services prior to taking ownership of the coaxial network and fully integrating it into the NBN. These commercial arrangements recognise Optus’ historical investment in its HFC network and the cost of providing services to customers using NBN infrastructure.

The revised agreement is conditional on ACCC approval and a ruling by the Australian Taxation Office.

Minter Ellison has been a key legal advisor to Optus since its inception. We have worked closely with Optus on key projects generally, and specifically HFC-related projects.