Cable companies NTL and Chorus, MMDS operators and satellite providers including Sky will not be regulated in relation to consumer issues as a result of EU directives due to come into effect next month.
ComReg said that directives which come into operation on July 25th were likely to allow cable, MMDS and satellite operators to avoid regulation on consumer issues such as billing and quality of service.
A statement said these companies would be regulated at the wholesale and network level, but television customers would not have the same rights as mobile phone customers.
ComReg said it would support additional legislation to deal with this and clarification was needed.
However, the Department of Communications and Natural Resources expressed dissatisfaction last night with the ComReg statement.
A spokesman said the Minister, Mr Ahern, had indicated he was prepared to legislate to bring Sky and other companies under complete regulation but he was still waiting for ComReg to provide details of what it thought was necessary.
"The ball is in their court. The Minister met ComReg officials in April and gave his commitment to legislate, but since then we have been waiting patiently for details on what they want to see in the legislation," he said.
In relation to the new directive, he said it was "a little late" for ComReg to be drawing attention to it so close to its implementation date.
"That is just bad planning," he said.
Because of the EU directives, it will no longer be necessary for cable or MMDS operators to obtain a licence. Instead, there will be a general right to provide such services subject to "compliance" with standardised conditions. If they meet these, they will receive what is known as an "authorisation".
Ms Etain Doyle, chairwoman of ComReg, said: "The authorisations will be finalised when the legislation, currently being prepared by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, is adopted."
The issue of Sky coming under regulation in the Republic has been a source of controversy for some time. Cable companies like NTL and Chorus, that compete for subscribers with Sky, are aggrieved that Sky does not have to pay a regulation fee to ComReg. NTL and Chorus have to pay 3.5 per cent of their revenue to ComReg.
The cable firms are unhappy that companies based in Ireland are regulated, but companies like Sky that broadcast out of Europe are immune to regulation. However, Sky argues that it is regulated by authorities in Britain and they claim that the EU's Television Without Frontiers directive means they cannot be regulated by the Irish Government.
While there may be concern about consumer issues in relation to cable, MMDS and satellite providers, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland continues to regulate television content.
RTÉ is regulated via the RTÉ authority and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.
