Latest news with #ComReg
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Sky Ireland tells court it is not obliged to give end of contract notice
The communications regulator. ComReg, is seeking High Court orders requiring Sky Ireland Ltd to end its practice of automatically renewing customers' contracts without first informing them their contracts are about to end and of alternative tariffs. ComReg claims Sky is in breach of 2022 European Union regulations requiring communications service providers to inform consumers in a prominent and timely manner of the end of the contractual commitment and means by which to terminate the contract. It says Sky is also contravening the regulations by failing to provide consumers with 'best tariff advice' before the contract is automatically prolonged. Sky is the only one of the five big providers refusing to do so, ComReg says. Sky disputes ComReg's interpretation of the relevant legal provisions and says they only apply to contracts with a fixed duration. Its customers' contracts are subscription contracts of indeterminate duration, it says. READ MORE The regulations, Sky argues, are designed to address the potential harm of consumers getting automatically prolonged in the contract for a second term without their knowledge. This harm does not arise in relation to Sky customers as its contracts do not follow this type of model in Ireland, it argues. It also says the ultimate interpretation of the regulations is for the courts to decide. On Monday, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey admitted Comreg's proceedings against Sky to the fast track Commercial Court on the application of Eoin McCullough SC, for the regulator, and on consent from Andrew Fitzpatrick SC, for Sky. The case was adjourned to December. In an affidavit seeking entry of the case to the commercial list, Miriam Kilraine, ComReg compliance operations manager, said the purpose of end of contract information and best tariff advice, when a contract is nearing end and about to be 'auto-prolonged', is that customers are afforded an opportunity of making an informed decision to stay with their current provider on the same or different package or to switch to a new provider. This is important particularly as customers may be losing discounts and therefore incurring higher prices and, in the case of Sky customers, this could include bundled TV, broadband and telephone services, she said. As part of its review and enforcement functions, ComReg began an investigation last September and Virgin Media, Eircom, Three and Vodafone all confirmed they are in compliance but Sky said it did not do so. Further investigations into Sky followed and in December Sky said it would not be complying because of its interpretation of the regulations. Ms Kilraine said it is clear there is a fundamental disagreement between the parties regarding the interpretation of the relevant legal provisions in this case. It is ComReg's position that Sky has failed and continues to fail to comply with its obligations under the 2022 regulations, she said. She also said Sky's UK arm, Sky UK Ltd, has taken a different position to its Irish counterpart and provides best tariff information to its customers. Th followed enforcement action against Sky UK by the UK watchdog, Ofcom, in 2021 which concluded in Ofcom's favour last December, Ms Kilraine said.
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Sky Ireland says it is not obliged to give end-of-contract notice
The communications regulator is seeking High Court orders requiring Sky Ireland Ltd to end its practice of automatically renewing customers' contracts without first informing them their contracts are about to end or of alternative tariffs. ComReg claims Sky is in breach of 2022 EU regulations requiring communications service providers to inform consumers in a prominent and timely manner of the end of the contractual commitment and means by which to terminate the contract. It says Sky is also contravening the regulations by failing to provide consumers with "best tariff advice" before the contract is automatically prolonged. Sky is the only one of the five big providers refusing to do so, ComReg says. Sky disputes ComReg's interpretation of the relevant legal provisions and says they only apply to contracts with a fixed duration. Its customers' contracts are subscription contracts of indeterminate duration, it says. The regulations, Sky argues, are designed to address the potential harm of consumers getting automatically prolonged in the contract for a second term without their knowledge. This harm does not arise in relation to Sky customers as its contracts do not follow this type of model in Ireland, it argues. It also says the ultimate interpretation of the regulations is for the courts to decide. On Monday, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey admitted ComReg's proceedings against Sky to the fast track commercial court on the application of Eoin McCullough SC, for the regulator, and on consent from Andrew Fitzpatrick SC, for Sky. The case was adjourned to December. In an affidavit seeking entry of the case to the commercial list, Miriam Kilraine, ComReg compliance operations manager, said the purpose of end-of-contract information and best tariff advice, when a contract is nearing end and about to be "auto-prolonged", is that customers are afforded an opportunity of making an informed decision to stay with their current provider on the same or different package or to switch to a new provider. This is important, particularly as customers may be losing discounts and therefore incurring higher prices and, in the case of Sky customers, this could include bundled TV, broadband and telephone services, she said. As part of its review and enforcement functions, ComReg began an investigation last September and Virgin Media, Eircom, Three and Vodafone all confirmed they are in compliance, but Sky said it did not do so. Further investigations into Sky followed and in December Sky said it would not be complying because of its interpretation of the regulations. Ms Kilraine said it was clear there was a fundamental disagreement between the parties regarding the interpretation of the relevant legal provisions in this case. It is ComReg's position that Sky has failed and continues to fail to comply with its obligations under the 2022 regulations, she said. She also said Sky's UK arm, Sky UK Ltd, had taken a different position to its Irish counterpart and provided best tariff information to its customers. This followed enforcement action against Sky UK by the UK watchdog, Ofcom, in 2021, which concluded in Ofcom's favour last December, Ms Kilraine said.
Irish Independent
10-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Regulator takes proceedings against Sky Ireland
The case, lodged in the High Court, seeks an order compelling Sky to tell customers in a prominent way when a fixed contract is going to be automatically renewed, and to do this at least a month in advance. Sky has said it does not believe that ComReg is interpreting the relevant European regulation correctly, and is preparing to defend its position. In a statement to the Irish Independent today, ComReg confirmed it has issued proceedings in relation to the alleged contravention by Sky Ireland of Regulation 89.6 of the EU's electronic communications code. These came into force in 2022. ComReg said it has sought a restraining order requiring Sky 'not to repeat the contravention of Regulation 89 (6)' and also requiring it to 'refrain from not informing customers in a prominent and timely manner before a fixed duration contract is automatically prolonged, being not less than one month before the prolongation date, and on a durable medium, of the end of contractual commitment and of the means by which to terminate the contract'. A durable medium is defined as a paper record, but could also be interpreted as an email. The regulator is also seeking an order requiring Sky to 'refrain from not providing consumers with their best tariff advice' before a contract is automatically renewed, and to 'refrain from failing to provide consumers with their best tariff information at least annually after the automatic prolongation of their contract'. Asked to respond, a Sky spokesperson said: 'Sky takes its regulatory obligations very seriously and complies with all relevant laws in each of the markets in which it operates. 'In this instance, ComReg and Sky differ in their legal interpretation of Regulation 86 (9) of the European Electronics Communication Code. We look forward to outlining our arguments in this regard in due course.' This is not the first time Sky has come into conflict with the regulator. Two years ago it paid ComReg €54,000 for failing to put consumer references on all bills. These are the numbers needed when someone wants to switch provider. ComReg said Sky paid the fine instead of facing prosecution. A number of customers had contacted the regulator to report difficulties switching from Sky due to a lack of information. In 2019, Sky Ireland and ComReg settled a High Court dispute over broadband charges. The regulator had changed the rules around how Eir charged other telecos for using its network. Eir was allowed to charge rivals such as Sky up to €170 every time a customer moved from one supplier to another. Sky challenged the ruling, arguing that mistakes had been made in the decision. The case was settled after ComReg said it would consult with telecos over the issue.
Irish Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
ComReg plans overhaul of SMS text message system to help block scammers
Communications watchdog ComReg is stepping up its battle against scammers with the launch of a text registration system. This is aimed at making it more difficult for criminals to piggy back on legitimate operators and send convincing spam messages to consumers. Irish people and businesses lose more than €100 million to scammers sending bogus messages each year, but the new system should stop most messages reaching consumers once it is fully implemented. ComReg says its SMS sender ID registry will help protect consumers, services and brands by helping mobile service providers to identify and block fake SMS messages. READ MORE Application-to-person (A2P) SMS messages often include a name (SMS sender ID) to indicate who sent it. This sender ID may be the name of the organisation or public service which sent the text message, for example 234BANK. Scammers often use text messages with fake sender IDs to mimic trusted services and brands. This bogus text messages can be difficult to distinguish from genuine and legitimate ones, so 'undermine trust in SMS and are a threat to important public and private business services as well as to consumers', ComReg said. Scammers pretend to be banks, recruitment firms and parcel couriers to trick people out of money or their personal details. Photograph: Agency Stock The registry is a secure repository of registered SMS sender IDs and registered sender ID owners. SMS providers will be required to check text messages from SMS sender IDs against the registered SMS sender IDs in the registry to help prevent scam texts reaching consumers. From July 3rd unregistered sender IDs will be modified to 'Likely Scam'. The aim of this modification is to alert the recipient that the SMS may not be legitimate, and to be cautious of the content of the message. From October 3rd SMS messages from unregistered SMS Sender IDs will be blocked. ComReg is asking all organisations using SMS sender IDs in their SMS communications with customers, clients and service users to take action and register their sender ID now. In support of ComReg's initiative, more than 7,000 SMS sender IDs have already been registered by SMS providers managing A2P SMS traffic on behalf of organisations. 'Many organisations, particularly in the public sector, use text messaging as a valuable and effective tool in delivering services to the public,' Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan said. 'I welcome the launch of the SMS sender ID registry, which will increase confidence in the use of SMS services and help stop scam text messages from even reaching customers.' ComReg chairman Garrett Blaney said: 'The SMS sender ID registry is just one of a number of interventions introduced by ComReg to help mitigate the scourge of scam phone calls and text messages. 'Europe Economics estimates the annual level of harm to Irish consumers and businesses from scam calls and texts at over €300 million, of which approximately €115 million is attributed to scam texts.'
The Irish Sun
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
New ‘scam likely' warning on text messages & bid to block all dodgy messages THIS YEAR amid Irish business SMS registry
A NEW crackdown is being launched in the war on scam texts in Ireland. Businesses unregistered with the telecoms regulator will see their mass-texts to customers slapped with 'scam likely' warnings from next month in a bid to crack down on 2 The move comes after ComReg found that there are 365,000 cases a year involving scam calls or texts Credit: Getty Images - Getty More than 7,000 businesses and organisations that send en-masse messages have pre-registered with the The Commission for Communications Regulation, Comreg. But SMS messages from unregistered companies will be labelled 'scam likely', while Comreg's SMS Sender ID registry is for use by businesses like Amazon or An Post so that they can attach a name and mobile number. But scammers can easily fake this Sender ID with the current system, leading to thousands of Irish people receiving texts that appear to be from legitimate businesses. READ MORE ON TECH The new system is designed to cut out these fake IDs so that Irish consumers won't be bombarded with scam texts. Comreg have said that mobile network providers will have the final say in what gets blocked as they will have access to the Sender ID registry. And they advised businesses that haven't registered to do so now to avoid their mass messages being labelled The move comes after ComReg found that there are 365,000 cases a year involving scam calls or texts. Most read in News Tech And more than 89million people cite 'annoying or irritating' communications because of it. They also estimate that 5,000 businesses per year are the victim of call-and-text related fraud. The average cost of Romance Scam Devastation: A Widow's Cautionary Tale ComReg chairperson Garrett Blaney said: 'ComReg is actively engaging with mobile service providers, SMS Aggregators and organisations using SMS Sender IDs to ensure that as many legitimate SMS Sender IDs as possible are registered before the 'likely scam' modification phase begins.' 2 SMS messages from unregistered companies will be labelled 'scam likely' Credit: Getty Images - Getty
