A system and method for overlaying signals comprises an incumbent system, an overlay system, and a multi-access controller. The incumbent system is configured to format a first signal according to a protocol used with an incumbent protocol, such as a protocol used with a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) system, and transmits the formatted first signal as an incumbent signal to the controller. The overlay system is configured to format a second signal according to a protocol used for an overlay protocol, such as a protocol used with a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, and transmits the formatted second signal to the controller as an overlay signal. The controller overlays the incumbent signal with the overlay signal to create a wireline complementary signal and transmits the wireline complementary signal via a network. Other access signals may be mixed with the complementary signal, such as by the controller, to create a mixed complementary signal.