Telkom on Monday called on the Competition Tribunal to quash two referrals by the Competition Commission and Internet Solutions (IS) that could see it fined up to R3,5bn for alleged anticompetitive behaviour.

In October last year, the commission referred a case of anticompetitive behaviour against Telkom to the tribunal, recommending a fine of 10% of the company’s annual turnover for the year ended 31 March 2009 be imposed.

IS referred its own concerns to the tribunal a month later.

The case started as early as 2005, when the commission began investigating complaints against Telkom lodged by IS, MWeb, Verizon Business (now MTN Business) and the Internet Service Providers’ Association.

The commission says its investigation found that Telkom “abused its near-monopoly position in the market for the provision of telecommunications network facilities”.

According to the commission’s referral document, Telkom charged excessive prices for basic infrastructure needed by Internet providers to on-sell to their customers.

When the commission referred the complaint to the tribunal, it also recommended that Telkom be fined the maximum penalty of 10% of its turnover for the year of the infringement.

IS added to the complaint, arguing Telkom abused its control over the wholesale market, including access to the Sat3/Safe undersea cable system.

However, Telkom has been fighting the cases tooth and nail, and the tribunal on Monday heard its latest attempt to have the complaint discarded.

Telkom argues the allegations made by the Competition Commission are “unconstitutional, vague and contradictory”. The telecoms group also says the complaint does not meet all the requirements of the Competition Act.

In the hope of having IS’s complaint discarded, Telkom says the case overlaps with the commission’s own case, making it “irregular”.

Though it’s understood Telkom and IS resolved some of their problems during Monday’s hearings, it’s not yet clear what these are. Whatever the case, the tribunal has decided it will rule on these issue.

The tribunal will also decide whether to add IS’s late complaint, given that it filed it a month after the commission submitted the original referral.

It will make a ruling on whether to go ahead with the case submitted by the commission against Telkom and will make an announcement on the matter “at a later stage”. — Staff reporter, TechCentral