Telkom washes its hands of VANS appeal

By Paul Vecchiatto for Telkom
Cape Town, 25 Sep 2008

Tellkom has officially denied it had any direct involvement in the Department of Communications' (DOC's) appeal of the High Court ruling that value-added network services may build their own networks.

A Telkom statement issued on Tuesday, following an ITWeb story, says the company viewed recent media reports with much interest and would like to refute all claims indicating any involvement, of influence or otherwise, with regards to a possible appeal by any party relating to the Altech ruling.

Altech Autopage instigated the High Court action that resulted in the ruling, which the DOC maintains is contrary to the policy of "managed liberalisation".

"The company stands firm on the stance that it has absolutely no knowledge of information provided to the Department of Communications or the state attorney for grounds to appeal the Altech judgment.

"Telkom has indeed scrutinised the judgment, but only for purposes of assessing the possible risk and impact to its own business," the statement says.

Because Telkom was not part the initial court action brought by Altech, it does not have the right to appeal the ruling that essentially lifts the lid off the market for complete liberalisation. In the recent past, the former telecommunications monopoly stated it welcomes competition.

Its main rival, Neotel, which is rolling out its own national network, denied early on Monday that it had anything to do with the DOC's decision.

DOC director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole confirmed on Tuesday that the reason for appealing the ruling was that "large telcos must be regulated as they operate on local, provincial and national levels".

Government has a 38.5% stake in Telkom and the DOC acts as the shareholder representative with the ability to appoint the board.