ComReg has found that Eircom is favouring its retail operation over other licensed operators in relation to repairing faults.

The telecoms regulator said yesterday that it had upheld a complaint against Eircom that it was fixing faults quicker for its own customers than for customers of other operators.

This follows a decision on July 20th that Eircom was found to be facilitating customer premises moves more efficiently for Eircom customers.

ComReg instigated an investigation in December 2006 following "concerns addressed to ComReg by both consumers and other authorised operators (OAOs)". In its statement, the regulator said it "found evidence that from December 2006, the performance of the repair service provided to OAOs did not meet the same conditions or the same quality as provided to Eircom Retail".

It is understood that the problem related to the systems Eircom used to log repair requests from other operators, which meant that these requests were not being escalated if they were not resolved within the initial time period promised to the other operator.

An Eircom spokesman said: "Eircom does not discriminate between operators, whether Eircom Retail or others, using Eircom's network." He said the company had made a change to its systems and it believed the problem was now fully resolved.

Eircom now has one month to respond to ComReg providing further information or to show that the problem has been rectified. Under the Communications Regulations (Amendment) Act, ComReg can fine a telecoms operator up to €5 million if it is found to be in breach of regulations.

Last week it also announced that Eircom's price for line rental would be frozen for one year following a €1.18 a month increase.