The Pretoria High Court today dismissed an application by Telcordia for leave to
appeal a High Court judgment made in favour of Telkom last year, that set aside
a partial award made earlier by an arbitrator in a long-standing dispute between
the parties.
After hearing the application for three days last week, the High Court found
that there was no prospect that another Court would arrive at a different
conclusion from the one that the judge found in his judgment in the review
application on 27 November 2003. The Court also granted a cost order in favour
of Telkom, including costs for two counsel.
A dispute arose between Telcordia and Telkom in 2000, when Telkom terminated its
agreement with Telcordia for the delivery of a fully integrated end-to-end
customer activation and assurance system.
Following the parties failure to resolve the dispute, Telcordia initiated
arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) during the first quarter of 2001. In response to Telcordias
claims for outstanding amounts and certain out-of-scope services of
approximately $130 million, Telkom counter-claimed against Telcordia for an
amount in excess of $300 million, including a claim for the refund of monies
paid by Telkom to Telcordia.
On 27 September 2002, the arbitrator handed down a partial award in favour of
Telcordia, effectively settling the merits of the dispute between the parties
and notwithstanding a pending Section 20 application (in terms of the
Arbitration Act) in the South African High Court to resolve pertinent legal
issues in the matter. However, Telkom applied to the High Court in South
Africa, sitting at Pretoria, to review and set aside the partial award.
In November 2003 the High Court handed down judgment in favour of Telkom
following the hearing of an extensive six-week review application. In terms of
the court order, the partial award was set aside and the Court ordered that the
matter be heard by a panel of three retired Judges of the Supreme Court of
Appeal in South Africa.
Johannesburg
3 May 2004
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Telkom or by officers, directors or employees acting on behalf of the Telkom
group, that are not statements of historical fact constitute forward-looking
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Act of 1995, specifically Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of
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materially different from historical results or from any future results
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could cause our actual results or outcomes to differ materially from our
expectations are those risks identified under the caption Risk Factors
contained in the prospectus relating to Telkoms initial public offering filed
with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and available on Telkoms website
at www.telkom.co.za/ir, including, but not limited to, increased competition in
the South African fixed-line and mobile communications markets; developments in
the regulatory environment; Telkoms ability to reduce expenditure, the outcome
of arbitration or litigation proceedings with Telcordia Technologies
Incorporated; general economic, political, social and legal conditions in South
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of the Rand; and other matters not yet known to us or not currently considered
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changes in our expectations.
Date: 03/05/2004 05:01:05 PM Produced by the JSE SENS Department