The debate about who should provide consumers with accurate speed information heated up on Thursday, with NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow saying his company was "not the police".
Mr Morrow has been reported as saying that NBN was "considering" releasing speed estimates if the retail service providers did not, in light of the consumer watchdog cracking down on misleading claims being made by telecommunications companies to customers.
But he was less clear on Thursday about when or if this data would be released, warning it could create consumer confusion.
Appearing before the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, Mr Morrow said NBN had undertaken a lot of studies about the "mass confusion" that existed about the services being provided.
NBN's involvement in releasing speed data could create more uncertainty, he said, adding that it was "never designed and set up to have that kind of interface with the end user".
"Part of the reason [for consumer confusion] is they think NBN is their entire provider," he said.
"I do not want to propagate confusion ... where the consumer is confused about who their go-to company is for their telephone and internet requirements."
Instead, he said the industry needed to work together to address the issue of consumers being sold speeds that were unachievable.
"I can see where the RSPs [retail service providers] are starting to respond to this ... and I think they are the ones best placed to communicate with their customers and share this sort of information," he said.
"We're not the police. We provide a service to RSPs."
He also said there were confidentiality agreements with the 180 RSPs the NBN dealt with, which would have to be looked at by lawyers before any information could be provided.
"If there are no restrictions, and if the RSPs do not publish the information, then I intend to," he said.
But he remained reluctant to provide further information, saying he didn't know whether this could happen before July 2018.
If NBN wasn't violating any agreements or laws, and the retailers failed to provide the information, Mr Morrow said he had an information portal in mind where a consumer could input their address. This would then tell them whether the home was ready to connect or ready for service, when this would be, the type of technology and what the maximum line rate could be.
But he said he hadn't had his lawyers look through the contracts yet as he believed the industry would do the right thing.
Aside from consumer confusion, the only other downside was upsetting the RSPs as "they don't want us out there speaking or having direct communication with the consumers", he said.
