Pretoria High Court Sets Aside Arbitrator's Partial Award in Telkom's Review
Application
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Pretoria High
Court today announced its decision to set aside the arbitrator's partial award
made in Telkom's dispute with Telcordia, following the hearing of an extensive
six-week review application that started on 11 August 2003. Telcordia was
ordered to pay Telkom's costs, including the costs of three counsel.
In terms of the court order, the previous arbitrator, Boswood QC, was removed. The case will now be heard by a panel of three retired Judges of the Supreme
Court of Appeal in South Africa.
Telkom's successful application followed a partial award made by the arbitrator
in favour of Telcordia on September 27, 2002, despite a pending Section 20
application by Telkom in the South African High Court to resolve pertinent legal
issues on the matter.
The dispute first arose in 2000, when Telkom (NYSE:TKG) terminated its agreement
with Telcordia for the delivery of a fully integrated end-to-end customer
activation and assurance system.
Telcordia initiated arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) during the first quarter of 2001. In
response to Telcordia's claims for outstanding amounts and certain out-of-scope
services of approximately $130 million, Telkom counter-claimed against Telcordia
for in excess of $300 million, including a claim for the refund of monies paid
by Telkom to Telcordia.
"The High Court decision vindicates Telkom's view that the partial award was
vitiated by serious irregularities. We are delighted that Telkom's exposure to
contingent liabilities will be significantly reduced for now, and indeed, we can
look forward to recovering some of our expenses," said Telkom's Legal Services
Group Executive, Mandla Ngcobo.
Special note regarding forward-looking statements All statements contained herein, as well as oral statements that may be made by
Telkom or by officers, directors or employees acting on behalf of the Telkom
group, that are not statements of historical fact constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995, specifically Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to be
materially different from historical results or from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Among the factors that
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 Telkom's initial public offering filed
with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and available on Telkom's website
at http://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; Telkom's ability to reduce
expenditure, the outcome of arbitration or litigation proceedings with Telcordia
Technologies Incorporated; general economic, political, social and legal
conditions in South Africa and in other countries where Vodacom invests;
fluctuations in the value of the Rand; and other matters not yet known to us or
not currently considered material by us. You should not place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements. All written and oral forward-looking
statements, attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are qualified
in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Moreover, unless we are
required by law to update these statements, we will not necessarily update any
of these statements after the date of this press release, either to conform them
to actual results or to changes in our expectations. DATASOURCE: Telkom SA Limited CONTACT: Andrew Weldrick, Senior Specialist, Media Relations of Telkom SA Limited, +27-12-311-1050, or Mobile, +27-82-573-6772 Web site: http://www.telkom.co.za/ir
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