91Èȱ¬

An alternative landline telephone company could be operating in the Channel Islands from 2012 according to the regulator.

The Jersey and Guernsey competition regulator said it had been looking into landline services in the islands.

John Curran, the executive director of the watchdog, said most people were reliant on one phone company.

Cable and Wireless is the landline operator in Guernsey and Jersey Telecom own the lines in Jersey.

Mr Curran said he was looking at allowing other operators to provide services from 2012.

He said competition was needed in a market where most people rely on one company and that work on the project was nearly complete

He said: "This is a working group that has been going on now for about 18 months or so and there are some complicated and technical issues that need to be addressed.

"We would be hopeful that come Spring of 2012 we would be in a position to have some new offerings available for alternative providers."