Internet users will be able to switch providers without running the risk of being left without any service for a time following a deal between Eircom and the regulator.
ComReg and the former state monopoly have reached agreement on the outstanding issues that had prevented the full roll- out of local loop unbundling, the process whereby other operators can provide their own broadband services from Eircom exchanges to individual users.
The deal is likely to mean that consumers will be able to avail of faster broadband and new services such as voice-over IP (VoIP) telephony and video on-demand from September. It is expected a number of new players will enter the market as a result of the accord. Both O2 and Vodafone, which offer fixed-line broadband in Britain, said they were monitoring the situation.
In March, Eircom unexpectedly announced that it would put in place a system that would make it easier for customers to switch broadband provider - but only those that used Eircom's own network.
BT, in particular was highly critical that it did not include "intra-operator" moves - where customers move to suppliers using networks other than Eircom's. These are now covered by the new accord.
Eircom has committed to being able to offer local loop unbundling to other operators by next September. ComReg commissioner John Doherty said it was a "good day across the industry" and that Eircom had "moved from denial to acceptance".
He said it was key that not only had an agreement been reached but that a detailed project plan was in place for how it would be delivered.
The new local loop unbundling regime will benefit BT Ireland most as it has more than 200,000 customers, both its own and Perlico's, who use a resold Eircom product. It will now be able to unbundle those customers phone lines and offer them services over DSL technology using its own equipment located in Eircom exchanges.
Some industry observers said the move was an about-turn for executive chairman Pierre Danon. In March he said about intra-operator switching: "That will go over my dead body, certainly not. It's a free lunch and I don't give free lunches."
Mr Danon said he was not now providing a "free lunch" as Eircom would charge other operators €99 for moving customers. "I wanted a price higher than that but at some point if you want an agreement, you have to make concessions," said Mr Danon.
Mr Danon also said ComReg's impending new powers under the Communications Regulation Amendment Act, which meant Eircom could have been fined up to 10 per cent of its revenues for non co-operation had "zero" influence on the timing of the deal.
Danny McLaughlin, chief executive of BT Ireland, said he was "very encouraged" by the outcome but said that delivering local loop unbundling would have to "remain a matter of priority in Eircom and the rest of the industry".
Mr McLaughlin said he expected BT to be able to offer broadband services at speeds of up to 8Mbit/sec as a result. The average broadband speed for most Irish users is 1Mbit/sec.
In contrast Vern Kennedy, chief executive of Magnet Networks, said it would not be revisiting its decision to stop actively promoting DSL broadband to residential users. "Any progress is a good thing but the pricing is still completely disconnected to the realities of the marketplace," Mr Kennedy said. "Comreg is simply ticking a box with this, they are not taking a leadership role."
Mr Kennedy also criticised the service level agreements that Eircom is offering to other providers, as 25 per cent of faults will still be solved in three days or more.
