Telecel Zimbabwe, which was recently acquired by the State, has taken another government-owned company, TelOne, to the High Court seeking to recover over $4,7 million owed to it in interconnection fees.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Telecel Zimbabwe filed the summons last Thursday under case number HC11289/15 after efforts to recover the money without the involvement of the courts failed.
However, TelOne has since entered an appearance to defend and is geared to take Telecel Zimbabwe to task over its claim.
In its declaration affidavit forming part of the summons, Telecel Zimbabwe said sometime in April 2013, it entered into an agreement with TelOne in terms of which the parties agreed to connect and keep connected their telecommunications networks and to convey calls to each other’s networks in exchange for a consideration calculated on the number and duration of calls conveyed and received.
“In breach of clause 5.4.1 of the agreement, defendant [TelOne] has failed to pay the full amount due by it within the time set out and has accumulated substantial arrears,” Telecel said.
“By January 31, 2015, defendant owed the sum of $4 361 553, 60 to plaintiff [Telecel]. It has continued to accumulate arrears. It has only made two payments of $300 000 and $100 000 in August and October 2015, respectively.”
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The mobile operator said TelOne had admitted owing the interconnection fees through various correspondence between the parties, some of which were written to Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services minister Supa Mandiwanzira.
“In a letter to the Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, dated October 15, 2015, the defendant admitted that as at July 31, 2015, it owed an estimated $5 144 900,” Telecel said.
“The accounting summary has since been reconciled to take into account various factors including payments made and confirmation of traffic information and an invoice has been issued, which reflects that the amount outstanding as at August 31, 2015 is $4 855 369,70. Defendant has signed the invoice in acceptance of the same.”
However, taking into consideration the payment of $100 000 in October, Telecel said: “The amount due and owing, which is undisputed, is $4 755 369,70.
Adding: “Despite having acknowledged the same, and despite demand, defendant has failed or neglected to pay plaintiff the amount due.”
