The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) is to submit a plan to European regulators seeking to impose a price cap on mobile firms controlling the cost of making calls to mobile phones.
If the plan is approved by the European Commission the cost of phoning mobiles should fall.
The cap is proposed in the ComReg report - ‘Response to Consultation on Remedies & Notification to the European Commission Market Analysis Wholesale Voice Call Termination on Individual Networks’, which was published today.
ComReg had already decided that the market for voice call termination services in the Republic was lacking competition. It said all four mobile operators - Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 - would each be designated as having significant market power.
The document published today contains market analysis the potential problems of anti-competitive behaviour. In it ComReg also explains how it proposes to deal with this situation to ensure customers are not overcharged.
The price controls will be based on cost orientation. A price ceiling will be imposed at current rates followed by further analysis of accounting data to determine new pricing models.
ComReg said it believes its obligations are appropriate and justified and will remedy the current problem and benefit end users.