Ireland's performance on broadband access is between two and three times worse than its peer competitors due to a lack of local loop unbundling, a new report has found.

The study - performed by London-based Analysis Consulting and commissioned by the Alternative Operators Group (ALTO), which represents Eircom's rivals - predicts that the Government will fail to meet its target of having 400,000 broadband subscribers by the end of 2006.

It calls on it to bring forward the Communications Bill and to give enforcement powers to the Commission for Communications Regulation, Comreg.

"Malta, Spain and Portugal, which have a markedly lower Gross Domestic Product per capita than Ireland, had a significantly higher level of residential broadband penetration. In countries with a similar GDP - Austria and Denmark - broadband penetration was respectively three and four times higher than Ireland," it says.

The report argues that Eircom's control of "local loops" - exchanges through which most internet access is channelled - is hindering the provision of competitively priced and easily accessible broadband access.

"There is clear evidence that the countries with the highest rates of users are those with the most competition in providing broadband services. It's hardly a coincidence that in the three countries with the highest broadband penetration - Netherlands, Denmark, Finland - the former State owned telecoms operator holds less than 50 per cent of the market."

It calls on Eircom to remove restrictions on competitors transferring their customers to unbundled lines and on supplying broadband to their own customers by line sharing, as well as to make it simpler for its own customers to change their provider while retaining their existing phone numbers.

"It is simply not tenable that the incumbent operator, Eircom, can continually frustrate the opening-up of the telecom infrastructure for its own selfish commercial ends. The Government must give the regulator the statutory powers to cease that anti-competitive behaviour by Eircom and if necessary take legal action to ensure compliance," ALTO chairman Mr Tom Hickey said yesterday.

Comreg will today publish a consultation document looking at ways to encourage the availability of internet phone services. "The utilization of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is growing in Ireland and this provides the basis for enhanced competition and choice for customers. Comreg is keen to ensure that innovative services such as VoIP are available for the benefit of customers," Comreg spokesman Tom Butler said yesterday.