The communications regulator, ComReg, has announced plans that will radically shake up the Irish mobile phone market.
It is planning to open the networks of Vodafone and 02 to outside competition.
Publishing its conclusions on the wholesale mobile access and call origination market, ComReg found that Irish mobile prices are high particularly in the post-paid segment of the market and that there is clear evidence that other telecom operators want access to existing mobile networks.
In other European countries where further competition has been developed through the entry of mobile virtual network operators, the prices paid by consumers have fallen in some cases by up to 25%.
ComReg said existing national roaming agreements between network operators should stay in place with Vodafone and O2 required to maintain the roaming agreements they currently have in place with other operators.
Following the introduction of new EU communications legislation last year, ComReg was required by the European Commission to analyse the level of competition in the market.
The telecoms regulator is now notifying the EU Commission of its findings and, subject to the Commission's approval, will implement the proposed measures from January.
ComReg chairperson Isolde Goggin said, 'We expect that there will be vociferous opposition form the major operators, but we cannot let that deter us from doing what we believe to be in the interests of competition and of Irish consumers.'
