The telecommunications regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, yesterday expressed disappointment that Eircom had not met a deadline for filing "separated" accounts. The company said it had placed great resources into preparing a highly complex set of figures and promised to produce them within 20 days. In a statement, the regulator said the late delivery of the information had "serious implications for the liberalisation process".

She said the figures would constitute a valuable tool in examining Eircom's prices and guarding against anti-competitive cross-subsidisation.

Eircom said the accounts, which break down each cost by call type, were enormously complicated to produce, especially for the first time. The company said it would be only the third company in Europe to file such a return.