The Communication Workers' Union said management's decision to ignore staff queries on the long-mooted plan and its engagement in "megaphone diplomacy" through the media have prompted the CWU national executive to oppose any break-up of the company or any sale of Eircom retail.

"Because the company has decided to pursue this option without consulting unions we've decided to fight this split tooth and nail, " said CWU general secretary Steve Fitzpatrick.

He said the union had been bombarded by calls from Eircom staff regarding media coverage of an Eircom split and claimed senior Eircom management, including chairman Pierre Danon, chief executive Rex Comb, ESOT boss Con Scanlon and Rob Topfer of Babcock and Brown, were running the company "very tightly" without informing departmental managers, staff or unions of their intentions.

Eircom senior management is currently on holiday and a company spokesman said because no formal decisions have been made, internal talks have not been instigated.

"There's no formal plan, and there's been no formal discussions. Staff will be kept informed as part of any normal business activity if decisions are made."

It has been suggested that Eircom's retail division could be worth 1bn to a potential buyer, while profit-making mobile arm Meteor might be thrown in as an 800m "discount sweetener" in any potential deal.

Senior telecoms sources speculated that an international media content provider, such as John Malone's Liberty Media-controlled DirectTV, might be interested in buying Eircom's retail unit as a ready-made broadbandenabled customer base.

Unions would no doubt be averse to another overseas buyer taking part of Eircom, although the underlying reason for opposition to any proposed split is more likely uncertainty about pension rights if the company is separated, and cultural differences between Irish union staff and Australian management in terms of consultation procedures.

Union leaders pointed to last summer's industrial dispute between GMB members in Britain and supermarket chain Asda's US owners Walmart as a prime example of the effect cultural differences can have on industrial relations.

It is understood Eircom management has been in informal talks with both the Department of Communications and Comreg about splitting the company since the general election, but no final document has been laid on the table.

"Any proposals by Eircom to separate its retail and wholesale arms would primarily be a matter for the company, subject to compliance with any regulatory requirements which would be a matter for Comreg to determine, " said a government spokesman.

Comreg said initial discussions had been held. "However Eircom has not submitted any detailed proposals at this time. It should be noted that there is no precedent for the structural separation of the wholesale and retail divisions of any major telecommunications company."

Two years ago Comreg produced an analysis of possibilities for Irish communications which specified that any retail-wholesale split of a major telco would be subject to European competition obligations.

One possibility that has been mooted for Eircom's "conceptual and embryonic" plans to retain its wholesale business is the company offering the government a stake in its wholesale infrastructure in exchange for the state-owned Metropolitan Area Networks.

These underground fibre optic rings surround 20 Irish towns and offer broadband operators an alternative source of 'backhaul' for providing their services over Eircom's national network.

Eircom has made no secret of its plans to pursue a fibrebased 'next-generation network' which would vastly increase broadband speeds in Ireland and make broadband operators who resell their services on Eircom's copper network virtually obsolete.

The irony is that European authorities would no doubt closely observe such a deal in terms of competition issues and state aids, while it was the EU that mandated the privatisation of Telecom Eireann in the first place and monitored the Irish government's disposal of its shareholdings in Eircom between 1995 and 1999.

UNIONS STILL ON THE FENCE OVER SALE OF EIRCOM MASTS

UNIONS have not yet decided to take a stance on Babcock & Brown's plans to sell Eircom's communication masts. The company has circulated an invitation for expressions of interest through Davy to possible buyers in Ireland, Britain and farther afield, and has drawn up a shortlist of 12 interested parties for 300 phone masts, which are expected to cost 150m.

"Whether or not the sale of those masts is a good idea or bad idea remains to be seen but one increasingly gets the feeling that Babcock & Brown are only interested in selling the family silver and preferring shortterm options over long-term gain, " said the Communication Workers' Union in a memo to members.

Eircom said no board decision has been made on the sale and none was likely for at least two months. It's understood a number of specialist telecommunication transmission companies might make better use of Eircom's mast assets in terms of the overall network.

Babcock & Brown's London-based merchant banking arm has approached several Irish investors to assess their interest in the masts business and adjacent properties. These reportedly include property developers Sean Dunne and Liam Carroll, telco entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, infrastructure group NTR, and private equity groups Quinlan Private and Ion Equity.

British telco giant National Grid Wireless, which is owned by Australian investors Macquarie , was also reportedly approached One51 chief executive Phil Lynch said he was contacted by Eircom regarding the sale of its masts but expressed no interest.