THERE IS a “real possibility” that Eircom could collapse within six months, a representative of the Communications Workers Union has claimed.

On the second day of the union’s three-day conference in Wexford, its general secretary Stevie Fitzpatrick said the “perilous” financial situation of the company, allied to the loss of customers, was posing a threat to the future of the company and its 5,500 employees.

“This once great company is now on the brink of collapse and the silence from Government and the regulator, both of whom can play a part in rescuing the company, is both deafening and extremely worrying,” said Mr Fitzpatrick yesterday.

He said Eircom’s new owners, Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), had a €4 billion debt to service.

“If the company continues to lose market share and remains bound by overregulation, they will run into serious problems within the next six months and maybe earlier in trying to service that debt.”

The Employee Share Ownership Plan (Esop), whose beneficiaries include members of the union, owns 35 per cent of the company.

The union said the Government needed to take Eircom’s future seriously and “support the company, or else it will be facing another very costly collapse”.

Responding to the union’s claims, Eircom said in a statement it was “confident” that it could resolve its cost issues and continue servicing its debt.

“Eircom is making very significant strides for the future. In recent months, we have stabilised our ownership structure, and secured in ST Telemedia a strategic partner for the future,” the statement said.

The statement added that Eircom had recently eliminated its pension deficit and reduced its operating costs by €130 million – or 17 per cent – since the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

“The company is successfully rolling out high-speed broadband supported by our fixed line next generation and 3G networks,” it said. “We are confident that we will successfully address ongoing cost issues and service our debt appropriately.”