According to the statement of expectations issued on September 24, NBN Co must not issue any new building instructions without "further analysis and discussion" with the government, which means all new construction contracts have to get approval.

The additional 150,000 premises were previously part of a group of 645,000 premises where NBN Co had done its preparation work but had not yet issued construction contracts.

Mr Turnbull said in late September that NBN Co would finish construction at 300,000 premises where contracts had been signed, that 645,000 were yet to be decided, and that 900,000 were to be delayed pending the outcome of a strategic review, due on December 2. The 900,000 figure has now increased to about 1.4 million.

NBN Co spokesman Andrew Sholl said NBN Co would start issuing build instructions for the 150,000 premises, which were scattered around the country, from next week until February to "minimise disruption to the construction industry".

However, sub-contractors have been warning the lack of work coming from NBN Co's construction partners since the election could lead to job cuts. NBN Co has blamed Telstra's asbestos removal program for the delay because construction work cannot start until asbestos is removed. Telstra halted remediation work for nearly three months this year and resumed it gradually from mid-August, leading to a "significant backlog" of work.