Vodafone, Telecom may battle in court for 3G supremacy

Friday 1st May 2009

Vodafone Group and Telecom may end up battling in court over their competing 3G mobile networks after the British company complained of interference to its customers from its rival’s network tests. Vodafone Group and Telecom Corp. may end up battling in court over their competing 3G mobile networks after the British company complained of interference to its customers from its rival’s network tests.

“Vodafone can confirm that it has begun legal proceedings following a significant rise in the number of customer complaints relating to interference on its network,” the world’s biggest mobile company said in a statement. “These complaints led to testing which showed serious interference to Vodafone’s network caused by Telecom’s network, which is still under construction.”

The move by Vodafone comes just 13 days before Telecom is due to launch its so-called XT mobile network and threatens to derail the start via court injunction.

“This is a piece of aggressive behaviour that betrays Vodafone’s insecurities about competition,” said Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds. “Telecom will vigorously resist the request for an injunction.”

Telecom is spending $574 million on the rollout of its W-CDMA network, which operates on a frequency of 850MHz. Vodafone’s network runs on 900MHz.

Telecom said it is complying with the terms of its licences, which was confirmed by the Ministry for Economic Development as part of an investigation into interference issues between the Telecom’s W-CDMA technology and Vodafone’s GSM.

Reynolds said interference on Vodafone’s network reflects “poor technical decisions” by its British rival.

Shares of Telecom dropped 6.7% to $2.63 today.

Businesswire.co.nz

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