NTL Ireland could face a bill of more than €50,000 following its decision to stop offering customers a direct telephone service to their homes.

The cable firm, which provides direct telephone services to 2,000 customers in Tallaght and Rathfarnham, Dublin, said at the weekend that it was stopping its telephone service due to safety concerns with its equipment.

The decision sparked outrage among consumers yesterday, many of whom are now without a telephone service after being told by NTL to unplug their phones.

Reacting to NTL's decision, the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg) ordered the telecoms firm to pay the reconnection fees for its consumers to move to alternative operators.

"NTL is required to protect its consumers and the company must must offer an alternative provider without delay and without exposing them to additional costs associated with the transfer," said Mr John Doherty, chairman of ComReg.

Some of NTL Ireland's customers have already asked Eircom for reconnection and have been charged a fee of €24.99 if their homes already have an existing Eircom line.

The reconnection fee for consumers without an existing line is €129. Mr Mark Mohan, NTL Ireland's director of marketing, said the firm had acted as soon as it had been informed of the potential dangers.

He rejected that NTL was ceasing the service for commercial rather than safety reasons.

The cable firm's equipment supplier Tellabs, last night insisted that it did not believe that its telephone product was faulty.

Tellabs makes the cablespan unit which connects to NTL's cable and the telephone to enable them to make and receive calls over the firm's cable network.

It is understood that NTL believes that the cablespan units are faulty and may overheat and cause a fire risk. There have been at least two reported incidents in Ireland since the products were installed in homes from 2000.

In a statement, Tellabs said: "Tellabs rigorously tests all products prior to deployment. We are aware of two isolated incidents that have raised this concern. We do not believe that Tellabs' product is faulty."

A Tellabs spokesman said it had not yet reached a conclusion as to what had caused the overheating and was working with NTL on the matter.

Last year NTL stopped taking orders for another type of telephone service it offered because the service was not profitable.