THE COMMUNICATIONS Regulator ComReg has described a "serious decline in performance" by Eircom in providing new phone lines and fixing faults as concerning.

ComReg yesterday published its quarterly report on Eircom's provision of universal service, a regulatory requirement given its dominance of the market. The figures cover the first three months of 2008 and show that business customers saw a significant increase in waiting time for the installation of new lines.

The average waiting time for the fastest 95 per cent of business installations is 45 days, up from 30 days in the fourth quarter of 2007. The average for the fastest 99 per cent is 140 days, up from 101.

Just 81.5 per cent of business customers receive their lines within the agreed timeframe, down from 82.9 per cent the previous quarter.

Residential customers wait an average of 32 days (fastest 95 per cent) and 141 days (fastest 99 per cent).

The incident of faults on Eircom's network also increased sharply for both residential and business customers. There were 3.1 faults per 100 business lines in the first quarter up from 2.7 at the end of 2007. Home users suffered 7.8 faults per 100 lines, up from 6.3.

In a note accompanying the figures ComReg Chairman John Doherty said they "emphasise the need for mandatory performance targets".

Under the current regulatory regime ComReg publishes information about Eircom's performance but cannot take action against the former state telco for not meeting its targets.

Since July 1st last ComReg has imposed legally binding targets on Eircom for speed of delivery of new lines, the rate of faults experienced by customers and the time taken to fix faults.

These targets will be subject to enforcement from June 30th next year.