The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) has declared that it will not be intimidated by dominant fixed-line carrier PCCW's persistent legal challenges.
'Ofta is not interested in going to court because it is risky and costly,' said Ofta director-general Au Man-ho in a special media briefing. 'But we're not afraid of going to court if it is necessary.'
The regulator is facing 18 legal challenges from telecoms players, of which 16 were filed by PCCW with the telecoms competition appeal board. About a third of PCCW's actions are related to Type 2 interconnection - a mandatory policy that requires PCCW to lease its 'last mile' network to rivals. Two of the cases are scheduled for hearings at the end of this month.
'We won't deviate from our principles simply because we don't want to go to court,' said Mr Au. 'We have an obligation to enforce the law. Telecom players who pay licence fees expect us to uphold the law to ensure a level playing field.'
Two weeks ago, Ofta claimed partial victory in a lawsuit with PCCW, in which the High Court upheld Ofta's right to force interconnections. The court qualified its judgment, however, by saying that the regulator's implementation of the interconnection policy in May 2002 was 'arbitrary', 'irrational' and 'unlawful' because it did not detail the terms and conditions.
PCCW said this meant it had won the day and it now expected Ofta to pay $6 million in court costs.