Minister to give ComReg new powers of enforcement

Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey is moving to increase the powers of ComReg to take enforcement actions in the courts and initiate investigations into anti-competitive practices in the telecoms sector.

In a development that comes as Australian investment fund Babcock & Brown and the Eircom's employee share ownership trust continue their due diligence examination of the telco's books, Mr Dempsey said that regulation of the sector had proved "less muscular" a policy tool than investment in technology.

At a conference in Croke Park, the Minister said the Government had approved heads of a bill to give ComReg the power to enforce decisions on the opening of the local loop, the final mile of the telecoms network into homes. He also said ComReg would be given co-competition powers - similar to those of its British counterpart - to investigate alleged abuses of a leading position in the telecoms market.

Eircom's dominance of the market would be the obvious target of any such enforcement actions. Asked whether the company had any response to the Minister's initiative, a spokesman said: "Eircom is working actively with the industry and we favour a constructive approach to resolve whatever issues there are."

Mr Dempsey's signalled the move to increase ComReg's powers two days after BT, an Eircom rival, said it had withdrawn from talks with the former State telco over broadband access. BT made a point of saying that the regulator did not have adequate powers to deal with the issue.

The Minister said he was convinced that the current regulatory framework was not strong enough to foster competition in telecoms in a speedy and timely manner. "Nowhere is this more evident in the area of local loop unbundling. Full local loop unbundling is essential. It increases competition, innovation and choice on the DSL network for consumers."

The Government has given approval to the heads of legislation that give new powers to ComReg to allow it to enforce regulatory decisions with the aim of improving competition in the sector, he said.

"I expect to publish this legislation within the next few months... In the context of the current legislation, I will bring forward proposals to give ComReg concurrent competition law powers in the telecoms sector similar to the UK model.