IRELAND'S bid to get derogations for Telecom Eireann will not be on the agenda at today's meeting of the EU Commission in Brussels, informed sources confirmed last night.
The matter was due to be discussed today, but there are a number of EU policy issues which the Commission must deal with before Christmas. It is understood that Ireland's case for derogations is likely to be discussed at next week's Commission meeting.
The Competition Directorate in Brussels has considered Ireland's case and has recommended that it be allowed to keep its monopoly on voice telephony until 2000, instead of 1998 like most other EU countries.
This means that the residential or domestic users market will be off-limits to Telecom's competitors for another four years. In return Ireland will be directed to open up alternative networks.
The Government had asked that other networks such as RTE and the ESB not be allowed to compete with Telecom until July 1st 1999. If the Commission agrees, Telecom's competitors will also be free to strike a deal and carry traffic on these networks.
This will have major implications for Telecom's competitors who believe access to such alternative networks will help them greatly reduce their costs.
