RIVAL TELECOMS operators have criticised the decision by the regulator ComReg not to take legal action against Eircom for its failure to meet service levels for repairing line faults in time and setting up new phone connections.

As the designated universal service provider in the telecoms market, Eircom must meet legally binding performance targets for quality of service levels relating to connections, fault rate occurrence and fault repair times.

ComReg has found that Eircom had met just four out of 15 performance targets for the period of July 2008 to June 2009.

Last December, the regulator said it reserved the right to initiate legal proceedings against Eircom but has now said it would take no action against the former State telecoms provider.

The news was met with dismay by other telecoms providers, many of which rely on Eircom to provide some or all of the connections for phone and internet services.

“We’re deeply dissatisfied with the fact that Eircom hasn’t been reprimanded for failing to perform,” said Ronan Lupton, the chairman of Alto, a representative group for alternative telecoms firms.

Mark Kellett, chief executive of Magnet Networks, said his company continued to have problems with connecting new customers in some cases where Eircom was required to give Magnet access to its telecoms network.

Mr Kellett said he was not surprised at the regulator’s decision. “I would point the finger not at ComReg but at the political will to make these decisions happen.”

Other telecoms industry sources suggested the regulator decided against a potentially messy court case because of a combination of Eircom’s own financial difficulties, the possibility of job losses at the firm and the company’s central role in developing next-generation broadband networks.

“I don’t think ComReg wants to be the one seen as holding the sword of Damocles over Eircom,” said one source.

“The regulator is choosing his battles,” said another senior telecoms industry executive. “I would say there has been a lot of tough talk in the background by ComReg.”

In a statement, ComReg said it assessed the risks and benefits to its stakeholders, particularly the benefits to consumers and industry, when considering any form of enforcement.

The regulator said the approach agreed with Eircom would see the company provide “significant further improvement” around quality of service.

“In this instance, the commission considered that enforcement action through the courts alone may not have secured comparable positive outcomes for consumers or industry,” a ComReg spokesman said.

In the absence of sanctions for poor levels of service in the past, Mr Lupton said Alto was calling for “updated wholesale targets so current levels of provisioning services become higher, or are financially penalised”.

Andrew Haire, director of corporate affairs for Eircom, said that under the revised agreement with ComReg, the company would be obliged to pay a performance bond of €10 million a year if it failed to meet its obligations.

“We have continually been improving our performance against targets,” Mr Haire said.

Eircom customers and other telecoms operators would benefit from better service in the future, he added.

“De facto, this improved level of service directly translates to our wholesale business.”

Eircom said it would also make an annual investment of more than €60 million over the next two years in improved customer service processes, faster delivery times for providing line connections, preventative maintenance and network renewal.