In the notified draft measure, ComReg proposes to set new prices for the access to the civil engineering network of the historic operator Eircom. Access to civil engineering allows access seekers to use the ducts and poles of the access provider in order to rollout their own telecommunications network. Civil engineering often represents a substantial part of the total cost of deploying a telecommunications network.
The main changes concern the prices charged to National Broadband Ireland (NBI). NBI is the operator that benefits from State-aid scheme (notified and assessed by the Commission in case SA.54472) to roll-out a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in the most rural parts of Ireland, known as the “Intervention Area”, whereas the rest of Ireland is designated as the “Commercial Area”.
The Commission has serious doubts as to the compatibility of this proposal with EU law. The Commission considers that ComReg’s measure establishes an unjustified discrimination between NBI and other access seekers, by granting NBI very favourable conditions of access to Eircom’s civil engineering.
The Commission therefore initiates the in-depth investigation to verify the appropriateness of remedies proposed by ComReg.
The Commission has three months to discuss the draft measure with ComReg, in close cooperation with the Body of European regulators (BEREC), who may issue its opinion. At the end of the Phase II investigation period, the Commission may either lift its reservations or issue a Recommendation under Article 33 of the European Electronic Communications Code. During this period, ComReg will not be able to adopt a final measure regarding the pricing of the access to Eircom’s civil engineering.
The Commission’s serious doubts letter opening the in-depth investigation is available online on CIRCABC.
The invitation to third parties to submit their observations is published on CIRCABC.
On 10 December 2021 ComReg withdrew the notification. The notice of withdrawal can be found on CIRCABC.