The regulator for the telecommunications industry, Ms Etain Doyle has called for more powers to impose stiff penalites on companies who engage in anti-competitive practices.

She also said she wanted more "pro-competition" powers.

Ms Doyle pointed out yesterday that she currently had the option to revoke telecoms operators' licences, which she described as an "Exocet" power, or else take legal proceedings which could lead to a £1,500 fine. But in the context of major issues "a fine of £1,500 is neither here nor there".

The regulator said the legislation needed to be expanded and developed so that it contained major deterrents to operators found guilty of abusing their positions. She pointed out that "major benefits" could accrue to a company who delayed delivery of services to other companies.

Ms Doyle said the level of fine imposed should relate to the level of damage which had been done by the company to others. Although she did not specify any one company or case example, Telecom Eireann has been criticised by its rivals over delays in delivering services such as leased lines to them.

Ms Doyle was speaking during a conference in Dublin yesterday on the liberalisation of telecommunications in Ireland and the regulatory issues involved.

She said it was essential that the licensing system - which her office will administer - is underpinned by effective pro-competition enforcement powers. She said she was pleased to note the announcement by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, that she would be introducing legislation to strengthen the powers of the office.

The conference heard strident criticism of Telecom Eireann. Mr Sean Melly, chief executive of WorldCom, claimed his company had experienced huge delays in getting services it needed from Telecom, including leased lines. He also said it was paying over the odds for these services. Mr Melly said there should be a clear statement of the regulator's powers and there should be no "behind-the-door discussions" with Telecom Eireann.

Like others Mr Melly also complained about the interconnect rate, the charge which Telecom levies on WorldCom and others to deliver part of their calls. He said until recently the rate was 8p per minute, even if the call was delivered locally. "Once I get a call on to my network I can deliver it to the US for example, for 2-3p a minute," he said.

Esat chief executive Mr Sean Corkery said those who invest in infrastructure should be given interconnection on the most favourable terms possible. However, he believed that those who do not wish to invest should only qualify for a "preferential [more expensive] wholesale rate".

Mr Corkery said regulation should foster investment. "If there is a multiplicity of network operators then the natural process of competition will decide who the winners and losers are," he said.

He also called for Telecom to be given an operating licence which would include a requirement to provide interconnection to its competitors. Mr Corkery said Esat had spent two years fighting the interconnection issue against Telecom in Brussels, but was becoming more convinced that the enforcement of competition rules in telecommunications must begin to take a "national dimension".

Telecom Eireann chief executive, Mr Alfie Kane, disputed the prices being quoted for interconnection but did not quote the current rates. He said in some cases there might be an argument for a zero interconnection rate.

Mr Kane also said that the fee for telecommunications licences - which goes towards the running of the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation - should be capped. It should not be imposed on a pro-rata basis based on turnover, he added.

The Director of Consumer Affairs, Mr Willie Fagan, said the Republic was very fond of seeking and getting derogations from the EU. It had the effect of making the market soft, he added. He called for consumers to be told what the costs or benefits to them had been of the various derogations sought in relation to the deregulation of utilities.