Telkom could face R3.7bn fine
Telkom might be fined R3.7 billion for anti-competitive behaviour if it loses its challenge against the jurisdiction of the competition commission on the telecoms sector, at a hearing which began at the Pretoria high court on Friday.
In 2004, the Value-added Network Association lodged a complaint with the competition commission, saying Telkom was abusing its dominance by refusing to lease access facilities to value-added network services (Vans) directly, and insisting Vans be agents of customers.
In court papers, Telkom challenged the commission's decision to refer the matter to the competition tribunal, arguing that its conduct was beyond the authority's competence.
Telkom argued that the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), and its predecessor, the Telecoms Act, which authorised the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to deal with competition matters, applied and that the jurisdiction of the competition authorities was subordinate to Icasa's.
The commission said Telkom's conduct might be permissible under the Telecoms Act but it was not under the Competition Act.
Telkom submitted that the competition authorities had no concurrent jurisdiction with Icasa to condemn its action,and that if the commission did have such power, it could not exercise it until a memorandum of understanding (MOU) had been signed by the two authorities.
However, the said that Telkom had no basis for such a complaint as the MOU was never intended by Icasa and the commission to be mandatory but simply permissive.
The commission also slated Telkom for relying on the ECA, on the basis that no regulations had so far been promulgated under this legislation.
Telkom said that the commission's referral to the tribunal was unlawful because it relied upon a report prepared by an organisation called Link Centre, which was biased against Telkom.
But the commission denied this, saying its final report and referral were a culmination of all the material before it and the "Link Centre report reveals no manifest bias, whatever the bias of the authors might otherwise be".
Telkom anti-competitive discussion
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