Europe's telecommunications market, due to be opened to full competition on January 1st, is still riddled with barriers to newcomers who challenge the traditional monopolies, said a study released yesterday.

The study, commissioned by US mobile phone company AirTouch Communications and the pan-European telecoms joint venture, Unisource, cites problems in areas including licensing, network connections and frequencies.

Mr Bert de Ruiter, Unisource vice-president for strategy, government and inter-company relations told a telecommunications conference that differences in the way national governments were implementing the EU's liberalisation plan created a "real danger of fragmentation and chaos".

The study concluded that the EU should set up a new body within the next year to offer recourse to companies with complaints.