NBN Co will not reinstate discounts on wholesale capacity charges for retail internet providers that were in place for most of last year, despite four major cities plunging back into lockdown, to the alarm of Optus and TPG Telecom.

The government-owned entity gave retailers such as Telstra, TPG Telecom and Optus each 40 per cent more bandwidth on the national broadband network at no extra cost from March 2020 to January 2021 to help cope with a rapid surge in internet use as health orders sent many people to work and learn from home.