SA's largest mobile operator, Vodacom, has won a court case initiated by a former employee who claims he came up with the popular "Please Call Me" USSD.
Judgement in the protracted legal battle was handed down in the South Gauteng High Court this morning. Judge Phillip Coppin dismissed former Vodacom employee Nkosana Makate's case against the mobile giant, with costs.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman says the company is "pleased to hear the verdict and will study the judgment before commenting further".
Makate took Vodacom to court in 2008, in a bid to get compensation for the Please Call Me service, which he claims he invented in 2000, while working there as a junior accountant.
Former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig previously testified, saying he invented the concept himself while watching two security guards trying to communicate via missed calls.
Makate claims he invented the concept, because he was not sure whether a then-girlfriend, now his wife, was out of airtime, or avoiding him.
The former Vodacom employee has reportedly patented a service called "I've Arrived', which has yet to gain traction.
According to Vodacom's managing executive for mobile commerce, Herman Singh, the operator sends out 3.6 billion Please Call Me messages a year (28 million a day).
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