MTN flabbergasted by Cell C claims
Cell C CEO Jeffrey Hedberg recently said that a dispute revolving around Community Service Telephones (CSTs) resulted in MTN refusing to pay interconnect fees to Cell C.
According to Hedberg MTN owes Cell C R 200-million in interconnected fees, and that they have also approached the Competition Commission to make a decision as to whether MTN is abusing its Significant Market Power.
MTN however contests this claim, saying that they are flabbergasted by Cell C’s statements. “Note that Cell C lost its case against MTN. All of Cell C's CST's have no approvals and have been declared unlawful. We are flabbergasted by Cell C's claims and stand by our position,” MTN says.
Cell C explained their position: “Cell C’s license stipulates that we should submit our CST roll-out plan annually to the regulator. Furthermore, ICASA would have to provide its approval or disapproval on completion of the roll-out after 7 years. Cell C and ICASA agreed on an additional process in which ICASA would approve the roll-out on a monthly basis to ensure compliance,” said Zeona Motshabi, Chief Corporate Officer at Cell C.
“The court’s judgment does not resolve the question of whether or not any of Cell C’s CST’s are, as a matter of fact and law, located within under-serviced areas and whether or not they are CST’s as defined in the license. MTN’s contention that Cell C’s CSTs are unlawful is incorrect as no judgment has been made on the validity of our CST roll-out. ICASA is currently considering this roll-out for approval,” Motshabi concluded.
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