Telkom has been accused of bullying tactics and anti-competitive behaviour, following its decision to appeal against a ruling saying it must hand over what it claims are confidential documents.
Orion Telecom is seeking the documents as evidence in its litigation against Telkom, where the company has accused Telkom of abusing its monopoly position to unfairly target Orion`s clients and lure them away.
Two of Orion`s major clients, Standard Bank and Edgars, chose not to renew their contracts, after Telkom "made them an offer which they could not refuse".
According to Orion`s MD, Don Tredoux, part of the deal appears to have included lucrative discounts for the clients, but only if they took their cellular traffic from Orion`s network in order to take them past the threshold required for the new deal.
"This isn`t just about Orion Cellular and its clients. It`s about the way Telkom continues to treat the telecommunications industry as its own personal fiefdom," says Tredoux.
"Orion has been trying to get hold of a copy of the deals signed with Standard Bank and Edgars, as these documents are necessary to support the company`s affidavit seeking interim relief while the investigation into anti-competitive behaviour by the Competition Commission - which can be a lengthy process - is completed.
"We cannot afford to lose anymore clients to the monopoly through these special deals they are making, which is why we are seeking to prevent this happening by requesting interim relief," he says.
According to Jacques Du Toit, Orion`s national sales and marketing director, the only possible reason for Telkom to claim - as it is currently doing - that the deals are confidential, is because the monopoly has something to hide.
"All we are asking is for them to be transparent. What is so secret about the deal that it cannot be made public? If Telkom is cross-subsidising its rates and heavily discounting its rates to a select few, who is really footing the bill at the end of the day? Is it the consumer?" asks Du Toit.
While the Competition Tribunal ordered the incumbent to hand over the documents to Orion`s legal team on 15 December, Telkom chose to lodge an appeal on 2 January, and now has 40 working days in which to file the record for the appeal. Only then will a date for the appeal be set.
"This is nothing more than delaying tactics by Telkom. They`re now simply playing for time and it appears as though they`re trying to keep the average consumer out of the loop for as long as they possibly can."
Telkom`s senior manager for media relations, Andrew Weldrick, would only say: "At present, the details of the case are sub judice, so we cannot discuss it, but we are expecting the appeal process to take its course."
However, Orion feels differently about the matter.
"Just because Telkom is within the legal framework in terms of its appeal doesn`t mean that they are doing justice to the man in the street," states Du Toit.
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