According to industry newsletter Communications Day, the government is now expecting to receive the much anticipated Vertigan Review (formally known as the NBN cost-benefit analysis and review of regulatory arrangements) early in July and plans to make a public release of the report before the end of the month.

Communications Day also reported in recent days that the separate independent audit being conducted by former Telstra executive and Productivity Commission chairman Bill Scales is also expected to be handed in to the government in mid-July. However this audit is unlikely to be made public for some months.

Meanwhile the government has announced that NBN Co and Telstra have come to an agreement on an expanded program of cooperation to roll out a Fibre-to-the Node (FTTN) trial. Rollout regions included in the trial project are:

• Belmont, New South Wales
• Bribie Island, Queensland
• Boolaroo, New South Wales
• Gorokan, New South Wales
• Morisset, New South Wales
• Hamilton, New South Wales
• Bundaberg, Queensland
• Caboolture, Queensland
• Gympie, Queensland
• Warner, Queensland

The trial amounts to around 200,000 mainly regional premises with about 1,000 nodes. This is said to represent an interim step while the Telstra-NBN deal is renegotiated – particularly arrangements for NBN Co to gain access to Telstra's copper network for FTTN.

Meanwhile, the NBN switch-over continues. As a result of delays in NBN installations, the ACCC has allowed Telstra to postpone the final copper network cut-off date for some customers in the first 31 switch-over zones.

Telstra now has six months from after the switch-over date in any of the first 31 zones before the law requires them to switch off the copper.

Finally, two new websites are launched. NBN Co has a new one with some clearer, stronger messaging for people in switch-over areas. In addition, Australia's cabling industry has created a portal to help consumers find a cabler and figure out their in-home wiring options.