Telecom firms face massive fines in new Bill

Telecoms companies face fines of up to €4 million or more for failing to comply with rules designed to protect consumers and boost competition, under the terms of a proposed new law.

Communications Minister Noel Dempsey yesterday published legislation designed to give new powers to telecoms regulator Comreg.

The Communications Regulation (Amendment) Bill proposes giving Comreg the power to investigate and prosecute breaches of competition law, such as abuse of a dominant position or price fixing, in the telecoms market.

The commission will have all the same powers as the Competition Authority when pursuing companies for these crimes, including the right to recruit whistleblowers to give evidence against the parties involved.

Eircom, now owned by Australian venture capitalist Babcock and Brown, holds a dominant position in the fixed-line market.

It will also make it a criminal offence for companies not to comply with regulations laid down by the Minister designed to protect consumers and improve competition.

Where companies are found guilty of these offences on indictment, that is before a jury in the Circuit Court, they will face fines of up to €4 million, or 10 per cent of their turnover, whichever is the greater.

The Minister has the power to lay down regulations that bring EU directives into Irish law. These are generally designed to ensure an open telecoms market and to protect consumer rights.

Comreg will have the power to enforce these regulations.

The Bill also outlaws overcharging, charging consumers for services they do not want or failing to supply services sought by consumers. Comreg will be able to investigate companies' billing systems in these cases.

It will have the power to carry out investigations as a result of complaints or on its own initiative. The regulator will also have power to gather evidence and compel people to appear before it under oath and produce documents and other evidence.

Speaking at the publication of the Bill yesterday, Mr Dempsey said it would boost Comreg's powers to promote competition in the Republic's telecoms market.

"ComReg will now be able to aggressively investigate and take swift action in cases where there has been an abuse of a dominant position," he said.

"This is very good news for consumers. Operators who are found to have acted anti-competitively will now be aggressively pursued and will face very significant financial penalties."

The Bill also requires the State to establish an emergency call answering service. Eircom currently manages this. The company yesterday welcomed this provision.

Eircom also said that it welcomed the consumer protection provisions included in the legislation.