Competiton Authority passes eircom complaint to ComReg

The Competition Authority has today referred complaints about eircom it has received from IFA Telecom to the Communications regulator ComReg.

The Authority said that in their opinion ComReg is the agency best placed to deal with the issues raised by the complaint as it relates to eircom's campaign to win-back customers it had lost to Carrier Pre-selection (CPS) operators and ComReg is in the process of examining the same issue.

The Authority said the decision to pass the complaint to ComReg reflects one of the core purposes of the Co-operation Agreement which is to avoid "duplication" of activities where both agencies are considering an issue.

This complaint has been received from IFA Telecom and concerns eircom's campaign to win-back customers it had lost to Carrier Pre-selection (CPS) operators.

With CPS, customers can select an alternative service provider in advance to carry their calls but eircom continues to provide the telephone lines and billing services.

The telecom industry's CPS Code of Practice regulates the allegations that are the subject of these complaints.

The Code of Practice outlines the rules and procedures that eircom and CPS operators in Ireland must follow.

It covers issues relating to customer contracts, use of customer information, billing and bill payments, tariff presentation, promotion of CPS, and the activities of the telecommunication providers to "win-back" lost customers.

On 27 January 2004 ComReg announced that eircom had breached the Code of Practice whereby its field sales personnel misled customers when making a comparison between eircom's and a CPS competitor's rate.

ComReg also announced that eircom had rectified the alleged breach of the Code of Practice.

ComReg undertook to continue to carry out investigations into alleged breaches of the Code of Practice in response to issues raised by CPS operators and customers.