Eircom breached two conditions of its telecoms licence during a sales campaign to win back customers who switched to other companies following the introduction of carrier pre select earlier this year, telecoms regulator Ms Etain Doyle has ruled.

Carrier pre select enables consumers to select an alternative service provider to carry their calls while maintaining Eircom as the provider of a telephone line which is responsible for billing line rental. The regulator found there was evidence to support allegations made by rival operator Ocean that Eircom's retail staff was able to receive information on its competitors' customers from other sections of the company which handled customers billing.

The ruling orders Eircom to remove the identity of the competing operator using carrier pre select from customers' bills and states that staff involved in Eircom's winback campaign must not have access to the identity of the rival operator used by customers.

The regulator found no evidence to support allegations that retail staff at Eircom were employing aggressive sales tactics or sought to deliberately provide misleading information about competitors. However, the regulator will continue to review the matter in light of its "potential seriousness".

Last night, a spokeswoman for Eircom said the company would comply with the regulator's ruling, but still felt that providing this information to customers was beneficial as a reminder and to help customers when making enquiries.

A team of ODTR officers will visit Eircom premises within the next two months to ensure the company has complied with the decision. Sanctions could be imposed if this does not happen, the ruling states.