Eircom yesterday delivered a report to the communications regulator, ComReg, detailing the action that it needs to take to open vital parts of its network to competitors.

The company's competitors, BT and Smart Telecom, are seeking to get access to the telephone lines connecting Eircom's exchanges with consumers and businesses.

This is known as the last mile or the local loop.

Opening up this part of the network would allow Eircom's competitors to connect their own equipment with individual customers.

This would allow them to sell their own products and services to businesses and consumers.

Currently they have to rent lines from Eircom at wholesale rates, which means they are basically reselling its services.

The report delivered by Eircom to the ComReg last night is the next stage in opening up its network to competitors.

Eircom's competitors say that people switching from the company to its rivals have to change numbers and experience delays in their service.

They want these problems addressed.

The issue has already led to ComReg and Eircom clashing in the High Court.

Most recently, the court ruled that a ComReg direction to Eircom demanding that it address the issues raised by its rivals was wrong because it denied the company the right to appeal to a new independent panel.

The direction specifically dealt with the systems that Eircom should have in place to allow consumers to keep their numbers when switching between companies and shifting large numbers of subscribers from services offered via the wholesale line rental system to those offered through the local loop.

Eircom recently agreed to pay €420 million for mobile operator, Meteor.