In December 2021, Irish telecommunications regulator ComReg issued a decision on the prices Eircom, the former national monopoly, would be allowed to charge to other telecommunications operators for access to its infrastructure (wholesale local access and wholesale central access products including fibre and legacy products). In 2022, Eircom lodged an appeal to the High Court, challenging certain aspects of ComReg’s decision on the basis that it contained a series of errors or flaws. The alleged errors covered topics such as cost modelling, pricing proposals, market analysis, and the approach to setting regulated charges.

NERA was retained by counsel on behalf of ComReg to provide an independent assessment of ComReg’s decision. The NERA team consisted of Senior Managing Director Richard Hern, Managing Director James Grayburn, and Consultant Ricardo Rodrigues. NERA concluded that ComReg’s decision was reasonable in light of the regulator’s objectives and reflected a balancing of different considerations, with the alleged errors reflecting a series of issues about which it is reasonable for experts to disagree.

Dr. Hern and Mr. Grayburn presented NERA’s outlook on ComReg’s approach in two expert reports and a joint expert report, with Mr. Grayburn providing oral testimony at a High Court hearing in Dublin in July 2022.