Eir ordered to stop 50 broadband promotion

"The regulator has imposed "urgent interim measures" on Eircom to halt the offer, which has been available since last Monday. Eircom has been told to stop registrations for the promotion on its website, stop delivery of any leaflets with information about it and other marketing activities, and ensure all its agents stop promoting it as well. People who have already registered for the promotion this week can still receive the €50 gift card, however."

"ComReg has taken the action because it was never notified about the promotion, and has concerns it would not meet the requirement for approval. The regulator received a formal complaint from a retailer last Friday about the Open Eir promotion. The complainant said there had not been enough industry consultation or notice, and that the promotion would disproportionately benefit Eircom's retail division as customers would be inclined to search for "Open Eir" and land on its website."

"In a letter to retailers, the Open Eir team had said "we are targeting premises that have fibre to the home available in low-penetration areas". ComReg says that based on its initial analysis of the Eircodes that were included, "the promotion is targeted at existing Virgin Media Ireland customers and footprint". The regulator contacted Eircom after it received the complaint, and spoke to the company's chief regulatory officer Kjeld Hartog. He expressed the view that ComReg did not need to be told about the €50 offer because it was not a "wholesale promotion"."

ComReg ordered Eircom to suspend an Open Eir €50 promotion and to stop registrations, leaflet distribution, marketing activities and agent promotion because the regulator was not notified and has approval concerns. A retailer complained that insufficient industry consultation and notice would disproportionately benefit Eircom's retail division by directing customers to its website. Eircom's chief regulatory officer said the offer did not require notification as it was not a wholesale promotion. ComReg disagreed, stating the promotion risks creating serious economic or operational problems for other electronic communications providers. Registrants this week remain eligible for the €50 gift card.

Read at Irish Independent