A bid by Telstra to charge its competitors more for accessing its ageing copper phone network looks set to be rejected.

Telstra had asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to approve a 7.2 per cent price increase for the period from July this year through to the middle of 2019.

However, the ACCC has instead made a draft decision that Telstra should reduce its access charges by 0.7 per cent.

A final binding ruling will be made by the end of June 2015.

The ruling will apply to all phone and internet services offered by other telecommunications companies using Telstra's fixed line network.

"Given current inflation ... this uniform price fall means the prices access seekers pay will decline in real terms over the next four years by around 12 per cent," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

The draft ruling has been handed down three months after Telstra reached a revised agreement with the National Broadband Network (NBN) that will eventually result in it transferring ownership of any sections of copper that are not being phased out altogether.

Mr Sims says Telstra's competitors should not be expected to cover costs related to making the network ready for the NBN.

"Access seekers will only pay for the assets needed to supply them, and not for any under utilisation caused by the NBN," he said.