Vol. 524 No. 3
111 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the extent to which unbundling will be required of telecommunications companies; if the rule will be applied to all, none, or, some of the companies providing such services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22587/00]
In accordance with the current text of the proposed EU regulation on unbundled access to the local loop, the obligation to provide unbundled access relates to fixed public telephone network operators that have been designated by the national regulatory authority as having significant market power in the provision of fixed public telephone networks.
In the case of Ireland, at present, this obligation will fall on Eircom which is the only operator, as of now, that has been designated by the Director of Telecommunications Regulation as having significant market power in this area.
There is no reason, however, why similar obligations might not be imposed on any operators of networks such as cable or "wireless in the local loop" by national regulators if, in the future, these operators were shown to have significant market power in a relevant access market and where the conditions at the time justified such an obligation. This possibility will exist under provisions that are being discussed at present for inclusion in the new EU communications regulatory framework that is to come into force in 2003. These provisions will replace those contained in the proposed EU regulation on unbundled access to the local loop.
