The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) issued a ruling yesterday that will force Eircom to open its local telecoms network to rivals.

The ruling follows an extensive review of Eircom's local access network and has been notified to the European Commission and other EU regulators, a statement issued by ComReg said.

Eircom's local access network is the last mile of the national phone line that runs from a local telecoms exchange into a home or business. This is the part of the telecoms network that enables companies to deliver high-speed internet services to consumers.

ComReg said it had assessed the level of competition in the local access network and had found that Eircom had significant market power in the market for "wholesale unbundled access".

The decision by ComReg was widely expected and forms the first part of a process that will set a price that operators will pay Eircom to use its local network.

This wholesale access price has been the subject of a bitter dispute between ComReg and Eircom for more than a year. The dispute went to the High Court last year.

A settlement was later reached enabling ComReg to perform a pricing review. A decision on the price is expected shortly.