Vodafone has called on the telecoms regulator ComReg to withdraw its 2004 decision of joint dominance against it and O2 following the entry of Eircom and 3 Ireland into the mobile phone market.
According to Gerry Fahy, strategy director with Vodafone: "The competitive landscape has changed utterly since the regulator conducted its analysis in December 2004 on which the finding of joint dominance was based.
"Eircom's confirmed intention to purchase Meteor brings a new, formidable player to an already competitive marketplace. Eircom is dominant in the fixed-line market and, in terms of overall size, is of a scale of Vodafone and O2 combined," he said.
Vodafone Strategy Director Gerry Fahy
Mr Fahy added: "We believe that this is, and has been for some time, a demonstrably competitive environment and promises to become even more so in the months ahead.
"There is no basis whatsoever for ComReg to continue to maintain that Vodafone and O2 are not and will not be constrained by the activities of our competitors, and we believe the decision should be withdrawn in these circumstances," he said.
ComReg made the decision in December 2004 when it found that both Vodafone and O2 had "significant market power". The decision means that ComReg can force the companies to open their networks to Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO).
MVNOs pay a fee to use existing networks, such as O2 and Vodafone's, to offer their customers services.
But Vodafone feels that because ComReg could force O2 and Vodafone to open their networks, MVNOs have an unfair commercial advantage when negotiating for use of the network.
O2 and Vodafone have control of 90 per cent of the market, but the added competition in the market may make it difficult for the large operators to hold onto their market share without getting involved in a price war with their new rivals.