ComReg's Joint Dominance ruling against Vodafone, O2 and Meteor to be annulled

damien

This was just sent on to me. Not good. Three in a row.

All the parties to the appeal by three mobile phone operators against the decision of the communications regulator ComReg, that they were jointly dominant in the Irish market, agreed this morning that the ruling be annulled.

The appeal hearing was in front of a panel of ECAP, the Electronic Communications Appeal Panel. Part of the case made by the three operators was that ComReg had denied them natural justice by not hearing their arguments before making its joint dominance ruling.

This morning’s settlement of the case means that ComReg consented (with the operators) to ECAP issuing an Order annulling the joint dominance decision. The Order will be formulated in legal terms shortly.
This is the third recent legal setback for ComReg decisions.
On 26 September this year another ECAP panel annulled part the ComReg decision that declared the new mobile operator trading as ‘3’ to have significant market power.

And on 30 July this year the High Court decided (in a judicial review case) that an order issued by ComReg to Eircom, that the latter must open its landlines to competing operators under what is called ‘local loop unbundling’ had wrongly pre-empted the company’s right to appeal an earlier ComReg decision.

cgarvey

I would have thought that ComReg had a decent legal team/resource, no? I mean this time they failed on the grounds that they didn't listen to the parties they were imposing some serious consequences on. Against eircom, they imposed something denying they right to appeal. Surely these are very basic things that most 3rd level business/comp/languages students would have covered in a couple of short Law lectures, never mind law students, solicitors, or higher.

Incompetence, in the extreme which, once again, cost the consumer dearly.

.cg

jwt

December 2nd 2005
http://www.comreg.ie/recruitment/position.asp?nid=42

LEGAL ADVISORS

The successful applicants will be solicitors or barristers with 3 + years PQE, keen to make a major contribution to all of the legal aspects of our remit.

The roles call for excellent analytical and drafting skills with an ability to assimilate complex legal and factual situations and provide clear, practical, “solutions based” advice. Candidates must have a thorough grounding in EU law preferably in the communications or other regulated sectors. Experience of public and administrative law would be an advantage.

You must be completely comfortable working in a multidisciplinary project team environment (alongside professionals such as economists, business analysts, engineers and accountants) in an organisation with a strong culture of delivery.

"A strong culture of delivery", doesn't say delivering what.....

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/Images/HighLevel2.jpg

Sebastian Farr according to that diagram is where the buck stops for legal issues??

John

JohnC.

jwt wrote:

"A strong culture of delivery", doesn't say delivering what.....

If they keep going the way they are, their only use will be for delivering pizzas.

TimTim

Kahless wrote:

If they keep going the way they are, their only use will be for delivering pizzas.

So if I make a complaint against some teleco I'll get a free pizza?

Or am I missing something here....

damien

from ComReg:

The decisions in relation to mobile access and call origination have been annulled by the Electronic Communications Appeal Panel by consent of all parties involved.

As required by the European Commission and in light of recent developments in the Irish mobile phone market - which include the full commercial launch of the mobile operator “3”, the re-entry of eircom into the mobile market and the recent offer by ComReg of the fourth 3G mobile licence - ComReg will fulfil its obligation to monitor developments in this market.

Accordingly, ComReg will initiate a further review of the mobile access and call
origination market to determine the competitiveness of the market.

jwt

TimTim wrote:

So if I make a complaint against some teleco I'll get a free pizza?

Or am I missing something here....

nah...


If you don't get your broadband within 60 years of asking for it you get your broadband for free!


John

Sponge Bob

jwt wrote:

"A strong culture of delivery", doesn't say delivering what.....

A test will be held to see how fast they can fill a plastic bag with sh1te . If they cannot fill the bag in one sitting and in full then they are obviously incapable of 'delivery' to Comreg standards and will evidently have to become full Commissioners instead of legal advisors

I am that surprised they lost again the dopey arrogant muppets

Tom Young

jwt wrote:

December 2nd 2005
http://www.comreg.ie/recruitment/position.asp?nid=42






"A strong culture of delivery", doesn't say delivering what.....

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/Images/HighLevel2.jpg

Sebastian Farr according to that diagram is where the buck stops for legal issues??

John

I am not sure that this is still this case. Have heard that there was a change to the legal advisers with ComReg, both in house and external.

This was a test case in any event and now we can all take our money and run.

The point here really is that its the simple process points of the law which are killing off many of the appeals we are witnessing.

Tom

eircomtribunal

We (the consumers) are footing the bills for this.
I find it painful that ComReg fail in the instances where they are trying to do something.
What will become of the regulator when Mike Byrne will head the organisation after Isolde?
Can the Minister any longer simply turn his head away when those things are happening and happening?
The image to our August ComWreck blog is gaining relevance.


P.

paulm17781

I do like how the regulator is legally not allowed to regulate.

cgarvey

I prefer that it's targets are still protected by basic laws, including the right to appeal. Shame on every person in ComReg involved on this. Especially the legal resources. A complete waste of money, in the off-chance that a decision would go their way (and most reasonably thinking people would agree with the High Court and ECAP decisions that went against ComReg), and stalling any chance of securing some very basic Consumer privileges for months (and years for LLU). Shame on you ComReg.

.cg

eircomtribunal

cgarvey wrote:

Shame on you ComReg.
.cg

Noel does not agree with you at all: See DCMNR press release 1.December 2005:

The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey today announced the appointment of Ms. Isolde Goggin as Chairperson of the Commission for Communications Regulation for a further one year period with effect from today.
Ms. Goggin has served as ComReg Chairperson since 1 December 2004 and also as Commissioner since its establishment in December 2002.
"My predecessor decided that the then serving Commission should serve one year terms. That cycle finished this year. I am now commencing a second cycle of one year terms commencing with the appointment of Ms. Isolde Goggin for year 1, Mr. Mike Byrne for year 2 and Mr. John Doherty for year 3," said Minister Dempsey.
The Minister thanked Ms. Goggin for the work undertaken by her and her colleagues during the past year in developing the telecoms market in Ireland and in particular in supporting regulatory framework for the electronic communications sector.
"I look forward to working with the ComReg team in continuing to develop the communications sector in Ireland," said Minister Dempsey.
Ends

I have severe reservations against the ComReg crew; I have seen their limitations on so many fronts; but I have always thought that at least in the realm of judicial proceedings and dealing with the judicial stuff coming from the EU they had some grasp on things – but even there they are a waste of time, a godsend for the monopolistic forces in the Telco industry of Ireland.

And now we are stuck with them for another three years.


P.

Sponge Bob

eircomtribunal wrote:

I have severe reservations against the ComReg crew; I have seen their limitations on so many fronts; but I have always thought that at least in the realm of judicial proceedings and dealing with the judicial stuff coming from the EU they had some grasp on things –

In todays Irish Times. They spent €5m on this legal fiasco alone.

€5m would have paid for the entire Comreg consumer affairs department for about 10 years .

Mr_Man

if this were a business operating in the commercial environment the senior management would have some serious questions to answer about their behaviour and would face possible termination.

But since it is a quango and it is our money they are wasting with such behviour, it goes unpunished, and no doubt their bonuses are guaranteed as well.

Pathetic

M.

viking

FYI:

ComReg faces €5m bill as mobile firms win appeal
Barry O'Halloran

The telecommunications regulator, ComReg, is facing an estimated €5 million legal bill following its second failure to defend an appeal against one of its decisions.

Mobile operators Vodafone, O2 and Meteor this week, began a challenge to a ComReg ruling that they have dominant positions in the Irish market. The hearing was before the Electronic Communications Appeals Panel (Ecap), a new body that has the power to overturn ComReg rulings on appeal where it believes there are grounds for doing so. Its rulings are binding.

The appeal ended two days early yesterday when ComReg agreed with the three challengers the panel could annul the ruling.

The regulator has also agreed to pick up the challengers' legal costs, which industry estimates place at close to €5 million.

If ComReg's ruling had stood, the regulator would have been able to take a number of steps against the companies involved, including fixing the prices that they charge consumers for calls and other services. As a result of its ruling being annulled, it cannot now take these steps against the companies involved.

Vodafone and O2 yesterday issued statements welcoming the result. Vodafone's strategy director said the Irish market was extremely competitive.

"Ireland already has four mobile licence holders - with another poised to enter - addressing a market of four million people, a competitive ratio not seen anywhere else in Europe," he said.

The appeal was the second of its kind heard by the panel, and it was also the second time that ComReg has not succeeded in defending its original ruling.

Two months ago, Ecap ruled that ComReg was wrong to brand Hutchison, which operates third generation mobile network 3, as a dominant player in part of its market. ComReg ruled that 3 had the power to fix the prices it charged other operators for calls from their customers to subscribers to its network. Ecap quashed this, arguing that the regulator's analysis was faulty and failed to take into account the fact that Hutchison was a new entrant to the Irish market.

Earlier this year, the High Court also shot down a ComReg ruling governing how fixed-line player Eircom should open up its networks to its competitors.

The court ruled that ComReg was wrong in not allowing Eircom its right to appeal the ruling to Ecap. ComReg subsequently withdrew the direction.

ComReg's approach to procedures also came under fire during the first day of this week's appeal.

Senior counsel for Vodafone, Donal O'Donnell, argued the ruling was flawed because ComReg had not given the companies an opportunity to answer key evidence against them.

Mr O'Donnell said that the ruling breached fair procedures because the companies were not given the chance to respond to a claim that they "tacitly colluded" with each other to keep competitors out of the Irish market.

© The Irish Times

paulm17781

Do the government not see that Comreg is a failure and needs to be revamped (again :rolleyes: ). They are doing very little and definitely doing very little that is useful. Are the Gov just afraid to stand on businesses?