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Eircom rapped again for licence breach over carrier pre-selection

  • 28-01-2004 11:52am
    #1
    molinaalexis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 159 ✭✭


    Eircom rapped again for licence breach over carrier pre-selection

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    TELECOMS regulator the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has found Eircom again in breach of the terms of its licence in relation to the system of carrier pre-selection (CPS), whereby consumers choose a competing service provider to carry their calls while retaining the incumbent as the provider of its line rental.

    ComReg said yesterday that Eircom's field sales teams had misled customers when comparing the cost of calls between the incumbent and competitor Cinergi Telecom.

    Previously, the incumbent had breached the terms of its licence in relation to CPS during a sales campaign to win back customers who had switched to other telecoms providers when the system was introduced back in 2000.

    At the time, the regulator upheld allegations by Ocean, now a subsidiary of Esat BT, that Eircom's retail staff was able to receive information on its competitor's customers from other sections of the company.

    The regulatory body added yesterday that Eircom had misled the customers by quoting Cinergi Telecom's minimum call charge as being 6.4c instead of 6.35c, the same rate as Eircom's at the time.

    A spokesman for the regulator's office said there would be no fine as a result of the breach because the problem has since been rectified.

    Eircom blamed the incident on an "administrative oversight".

    The breach comes at a time when the company's competitors and pressure groups alike have consistently accused it of dragging its heels in the opening of the line rental market through single billing.

    Ailish O'Hora


    http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=184&si=1115435&issue_id=10358


Comments

  • #2
    Ripwave
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,188 ✭✭✭Ripwave


    Originally posted by molinaalexis
    A spokesman for the regulator's office said there would be no fine as a result of the breach because the problem has since been rectified.
    <SARCASM> And this is news? </SARCASM>


  • #3
    Ryaner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,714 ✭✭✭Ryaner


    You begin to wonder who they are really protecting. Alot of the news Comreg put out is Eircom's old problems. They have all stories about how they arent getting fined or anything for breeching their licence because they were so great as to fix the problem and follow the laws...


  • #4
    dahamsta
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,659 ✭✭✭✭dahamsta


    If this happened in the US, the OLO would have sued both Eircom and ComReg. I'm not saying compo culture is good, it just seems that we're getting the worst of everything here. Weak regulation and corporations afraid to stand up for themselves (appreciably) for fear of rocking the boat.

    adam


  • #5
    Ripwave
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,188 ✭✭✭Ripwave


    Originally posted by Ryaner
    They have all stories about how they arent getting fined or anything for breeching their licence because they were so great as to fix the problem and follow the laws...
    First off, they're not laws, they're regulations. It's not just a semantic difference. It means that if ComReg do impose a fine, oreillycom will immediately challenge it in the courts, and spend more money on legal fees than the fine would have been in the first place, while putting any further implementation of that regulation on hold.

    oreillycom don't get fined when they admit that they were flouting the regulations, and they won't get fined when they deny it either, because of the threat of a legal challenge.

    (And then there's the little matter of the fact that the fines are still derisory, because the Minister still hasn't given ComReg the power to impose meaningful fines. And with last weeks judgement about the constitutionality of certain types of ministerial orders, even that might not be coming any time soon).


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