Claims that there has been a deterioration of service since liberalisation of the telecoms market in the Republic were neither valid nor acceptable and were not based on analytical or market research, Eircom has said.

In a strongly worded statement released yesterday, Eircom asked the Telecommunications Users Group to support conclusions the group reached in a position paper issued earlier this week based on some research.

The TUG position paper had alleged that Irish businesses continued to struggle to achieve even basic levels of products and services and proposed a five-pronged action plan.

The Eircom statement said such serious assertions were neither acceptable nor valid when based on what the report referred to as "anecdotal evidence". Eircom said it shared the concerns raised about an emerging "digital divide" for smaller companies and those in peripheral areas. However, this is as a direct consequence of a regulatory regime which does not encourage investment by new market entrants, said Eircom.

Eircom also rejected the proposal to unbundle the local loop to promote competition. This would lead to a situation where all market entrants could cherry-pick the top customers by taking over Eircom's networks rather than constructing an alternative network, the statement said.