ComReg to look at termination charges

Communications regulator, ComReg, plans to investigate the prices that independent telecoms companies charge for terminating calls on their networks.

The commission yesterday published the findings of a review of the fixed line market.

It found that Eircom has a dominant position in the market's three divisions: call origination, the point from which calls are made; transition, the network through which it is transmitted; and termination, which is where they are answered.

"ComReg has concluded that Eircom has significant market power in all of the markets defined," its statement said.

It added that it found that all companies that have calls terminated on their own networks also have significant market power.

Individual operators charge each other for terminating calls on their networks.

The regulator believes that when a call is made from one network to another, the network from which the call originates has no choice but to pay the price demanded by the one where it is terminated.

ComReg is concerned that some networks are asking excessive prices for this service.

It is planning to review this and the charges demanded by independent operators, and to impose controls on them.

"ComReg is also imposing price control obligations on other authorised operators to address competition concerns in the call termination market," its statement said.

It has already imposed a number of conditions on Eircom covering charges and other conditions for terminating calls on its network.

Where the telecoms regulator discovers that individual telecoms operators have significant market power, the EU obliges it to impose price controls and other obligations on those companies.