NEC Australia is the latest service provider to head to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over the price it has to pay Telstra for accessing the telco's copper lines.
NEC's NEXSTEP broadband division is contesting the price for which Telstra supplies the Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS). Telstra wants to raise the monthly price to $30, up from $17.70.
Other service providers to have lodged a complaint with the ACCC over the issue include Optus, Powertel and Request Broadband.
"We are all affected," said NEXSTEP general manager Duncan Wallace. "Our business is a DSL business. We are dependent on using the ULL - like everyone else."
Last year Telstra proposed for the first time that it should average out the hitherto significantly different cost estimates for providing the ULLS across all geographic regions into a single monthly charge of $30.