Eircom field-sales staff deliberately misled customers of competitors in an attempt to win back their business, the telecoms regulator said yesterday.
On seven separate occasions, Eircom employers made "inaccurate and misleading statements" while seeking to woo potential clients, ComReg found.
The regulator investigated the conduct of Eircom staff after complaints from rivals, including IFA Telecom, the phone company owned by the Irish Farmers' Association.
It is believed that field-sales staff distorted prices of competitors so that Eircom appeared the better-value option.
Having found the workers guilty of sharp practices, ComReg has ordered Eircom to ensure price quotes and comparisons are always in writing.
And it warned it may take further measures should it conclude Eircom isn't following its instructions to the letter. Eircom had reacted with fury to IFA allegations that it had quoted misleading prices, and even said it was "considering its legal position".
In an unprecedented attack on the incumbent, IFA Telecom, which claims 12,000 customers, said it had "widespread evidence" that Eircom was "systematically engaged in anti-competitive practices", including "misinformation" and "intimidation" of the public.
This is the second occasion on which Eircom has been found to have misled on prices.
IFA Telecom had also urged the Competition Authority to look into its complaints.
Eircom was not available for comment on the ComReg ruling last night.
Relations between Eircom and ComReg have often been fraught. Last year, ComReg announced Eircom was supplying "off-book" prices - charges not agreed by the telecoms regulator - on some voice products. Such was its concern over tactics at Eircom, ComReg even seized documents at the company's St Stephen's Green office in Dublin in early December.
In its statement, Com Reg said: "The breaches were in relation to Eircom representatives making inaccurate and misleading statements during the course of a person-to-person contact with the customers of a competitor.
"In the interests of consumers - and to ensure greater transparency - ComReg has instructed Eircom to ensure its representatives always offer to provide written confirmation of any rate, or rate comparison, quoted by the representative in the course of person-to-person contact with consumers.
"ComReg is monitoring the incidence of breaches to assess whether the processes and controls to ensure compliance put in place by operators are effective, and will take further action as necessary."
