NBN Co pauses new HFC orders

NBN Co has revealed it has temporarily paused NBN orders from retail service providers for hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) customers.

The pause was due to a global shortage of chips used in NBN Co’s connection boxes that are required to connect to the HFC network.

NBN Co will stop taking orders for HFC customers starting today at 7pm Sydney time. The network provider expects the pause will last for “several” months.

Existing NBN customers on the HFC network won’t be impacted by the pause, while vulnerable customers affected by the decision will have provisions in place.

“We apologise to new customers that may be affected by this global supply chain issue and the anticipated delays,” an NBN Co advisory read.

“While this issue only affects a small number of potential customers relative to those on HFC, and this decision will not affect other customers connected to the NBN by other technologies, we appreciate that for those customers yet to connect to the NBN HFC network, this is frustrating.”

As reported by CRN sibling publication iTnews, NBN Co told retail service providers that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to heightened consumer demand for devices, which put pressure on silicon foundries.

"[This has] impacted the manufacture and supply of the integrated chips that are used across various industries, including the telecommunications industry," NBN Co wrote.

"The supplier of NBN Co’s HFC NTDs has been unable to secure sufficient chipsets supplies to fulfil its commitments, and on Thursday 28 January 2021 issued NBN Co with a Force Majeure event notification to this effect."