Cable companies, consumer groups and individuals will soon get a chance to shape the new set of rules on how much customers pay for their basic television service, the telecommunications regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, said yesterday. Ms Doyle said she would issue a consultation paper outlining her general approach, and invite reactions and suggestions from anyone interested.

Under the new cable television licences, service providers can operate as monopolies within a given area for up to five years, but the price they charge for a basic package is to be regulated.

Ms Doyle had noted how the original prospectus for Cablelink appeared to trumpet that subscribers were paying over the odds for basic cable service, compared to comparable European cities.

In the next couple of weeks her office would issue a consultation paper on what methodology should be used to determine the price of basic cable services. Ms Doyle was anxious to extend the consultation process to outside the industry, for example to consumer groups and individuals.

Ms Doyle said her office's Internet website - www.odtr.ie - had been updated, and companies and individuals could now make submissions online.