Potential new rules for broadband network

The government-owned utility overseeing the rollout of the national broadband network could soon be forced to set mandatory connection and repair times.

Internet service providers would also be made to clearly show how they'd make it up to customers with faulty or slow connections.

The new government report released on Tuesday recommended retailers and the NBN Co collect and publish more data about connection and repair times.

The Communications Department said the wholesaler wasn't facing much competition.

"Regulated wholesale timeframes for connections, fault repairs and appointment-keeping matters are therefore appropriate," it said.

It's part of a review of existing consumer safeguards for the massive broadband network, which is due to be fully online by June 2020.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman said any new guidelines needed to ensure there were incentives for the NBN Co and telcos to perform.

"We are considering the recommendations in the report and their impact on residential consumers and small businesses," ombudsman Judi Jones said.

The recommendations follow a recent audit of NBN Co, which found its complaints handling process wasn't in line with industry standards.

Larger retailers would also be required to report on how well they were delivering their services under the recommended guidelines.

The report said telcos felt they were beholden to the quality of service they received from NBN Co, saying it lacked incentives to perform better.

But the government-owned wholesaler told the report authors they had made improvements and were giving it their "best efforts".

The report echoed suggestions to make NBN Co compensate retailers when their technicians missed appointments.

The consumer watchdog previously recommended in October that this compensation be passed on to customers by retailers.