Eircom has strongly criticised the European Commission's draft recommendation on a new framework to regulate the communications sector and has called for a speedy revision of the proposals.
The firm's submission to the Commission also places Eircom on a collision course with the Irish regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, who is seeking even greater regulatory power than the Commission proposes to introduce from next year.
Eircom's criticism is contained in a response to a public consultation process initiated by the Commission, which has recently published a list of markets in which it feels regulators should retain the power to intervene because they are not yet competitive. This list includes markets in which Eircom operates, including leased lines and publicly available fixed lines.
The Commission plans to introduce the new framework from July 2003 in an attempt to reduce unnecessary regulation and provide greater legal certainty for telecoms and communications firms.
However, Eircom's submission, which has been seen by The Irish Times, shows the firm has questioned the legal right of the Commission to redefine the type of markets where national regulators should have the power of intervention. It also alleges that the draft framework will remove legal certainty from regulation, increase complexity to market analysis and treat markets in an inconsistent manner that will favour mobile companies over fixed-line firms.
"The redefinition of markets in accordance with competition law should have been left to the national regulators to carry out a complete analysis at national level. Moreover, we question the legal right of the Commission to have carried out this redefinition," says the Eircom submission.
Eircom's argument that it wants national regulators to carry out market analysis prior to any regulation places the firm on a collision course with the Irish regulator, Ms Doyle, who has criticised the new recommendations publicly for reducing her powers to intervene.
She recently told the Commission that a requirement to conduct market analysis in all markets prior to regulation would "raise the threshold at which market analysis can be envisaged and lead to the potential for significant delays in addressing bottlenecks and anti-competitive behaviour".
Eircom also questioned whether the new framework, in its present form, would actually reduce regulation. It says: "It is not even possible to forecast whether the level of regulation will actually increase on 25th July 2003 or decrease. This is not helpful in the current business environment."
The company also criticises the division made by the draft recommendation between fixed and mobile services, which it describes as a "stark example of old-style regulation" where mobile and fixed telecoms were regulated by different legislation.
Meanwhile, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators in Ireland (ALTO), a trade body representing the sector, called yesterday for urgent action from the Government and the regulator to revitalise the industry.
Mr Iarla Flynn, chairman of ALTO, said competition in the Irish telecoms market was under threat but the Government had a unique opportunity to kick-start real competition in the market.
