MORE Australian homes and businesses have been connected to higher-speed plans on the National Broadband Network, but not everyone has a reason to celebrate.

The broadband wholesaler says that cheaper prices offered to subscribers under its 50 megabit-per-second plan would come to an end later this year.

There is also the bad news for 1.8 million cable broadband users, who have been told to expect longer delays before finally being connected to the service.

When the NBN announced its “Focus on 50” promotion, subscribers to its 50 megabit-per-second rose from just four per cent a year ago to 28 per cent by the end of March.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims described the uptake of the faster plan — now with 989,360 subscribers — as “remarkable”.

“We are pleased to see retailers taking up the higher speed services and enabling their customers to shift to 50mbps plans. This is good for consumers who can enjoy the benefits of higher speeds,” he said in a statement.

While there was an obvious boost, NBN also had a two per cent drop in its fastest connection of 100mbps.

Despite the “Focus on 50” promotion’s success, outgoing NBN chief executive Bill Morrow said the temporary price cut would come to an end in October after six-month extension.

The promotion will be superseded by NBN Co’s new wholesale bundles which are designed to encourage internet providers to reduce bandwidth congestion and sell higher speed broadband retail plans.

Mr Morrow also said households serviced by pay-TV cable connections (HFC) should prepare for longer waits before being activated.

In November last year, HFC connections were halted by NBN Co after widespread complaints about dropouts and congestion.

The move saw 700,000 premises lose their “ready to connect” status and affected 1.8 million homes where NBN installations had yet to start.

Recent tests from the company saw a mere 1000 households connected using HFC technology, but Mr Morrow was confident to “release another 36,000 by the end of June”.

Mr Morrow said HFC users still faced “a six-to-nine month average delay”, but said this could easily change to shorter or ever longer wait periods.

This would not be welcome news for HFC customers in Brisbane’s inner north, who are already facing a delay of up to 12 months, or those in northern Sydney suburbs, who have experienced installation delays of up to 24 months expected, reported the Herald Sun.

“It’s important that we remember that the people we’re referring to already have access to a broadband service through Telstra or through Optus, so it’s not like those people are waiting for a broadband service to begin with,” Mr Morrow added.

According to the Herald Sun, Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland said the HFC delay may cost the network $450 million.

The NBN said the company wouldn't speculate until it had completed “an annual corporate plan review program” in August, which would reveal the true cost.

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