The National Broadband Network Co will be required to pay telecommunications companies $25 for each missed appointment and late connection as part of an agreement with the competition regulator, which could see Australians receiving refunds from their retailers when their connections go awry.

The NBN Co will have to pay a further $25 to retail service providers for every single missed activation and lengthy fault repairs as part of a new court-enforceable undertaking. These payments are automatic, meaning telcos do not have to claim to achieve the payment, and increase the expected standards the network has to meet before paying a rebate from 90 per cent to 100 per cent.

The NBN will pay $25 for each missed appointment and late connection.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) began an inquiry into NBN wholesale service standard delivery late last year after skyrocketing complaints about the service in May 2017 were recorded by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and the network reaches its crucial last few years of roll out.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims expects retailers who obtain rebates will pass along assistance and potentially refunds to customers whose services have been affected.