Eircom lost about 20,000 fixed line telephone customers to rival companies in the three months to the end of December 2003, a new survey by the regulator shows.

The Commission for Communications Regulation's (ComReg's) latest market review found that 225,000 customers have now signed up for rivals, an 11 per cent increase on the previous quarter.

The survey does not measure customer defections in the first quarter of 2004 when Eircom announced its third line rental price increase in a year, provoking consumer outrage.

The large number of customers switching to rival telephone operators in the fourth quarter of 2003 follows an audit by ComReg, which is concerned about limited competition.

A separate survey published by ComReg yesterday shows that just four in 10 people are aware that they can sign up with alternative phone providers to Eircom using carrier pre-select systems.

These systems enable businesses and consumers to switch operators for the call portion of their telephone bill. But they must still pay their rental charge to Eircom via a separate bill.

A new single billing system, which enables Eircom's rivals to offer their customers line rental as well as call services, is due to be available by April 1st. It is predicted this will make it more attractive for customers to use alternative telephone suppliers.

Meanwhile, the survey found that 3.4 million people, or 87 per cent of the population, now own a mobile phone. The Republic is ranked 10th in the European Union league table for mobile phone penetration.

Irish consumers continue to be among the most profligate users of text messaging services. In the three months to the end of December 2003, they sent 82 million text messages, an 11 per cent increase on the prior quarter.