MTN Swaziland will sue Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) for US$100 million for an alleged breach in a joint contractual agreement
MTN’s ire has stemmed from SPTC starting its own telecommunications company in Swaziland last year, while still owning a 41 per cent stake in MTN Swaziland.
Informa Telecoms and Media global markets senior analyst, Kalyan Medapati, said, “SPTC owns a 41 per cent interest in MTN Swaziland. The fact that they hurriedly rolled back their network in March says they might potentially breach the contract with MTN.”
The $100 million amount being sought by MTN from SPTC is derived from the fact that, according to MTN, it lost between $17 million and $65 million since SPTC launched its mobile offering.
In an interview with Swaziland’s Times Newspaper, SPTC board chairman Arthur Ngcobo said, “The amount MTN is asking for is a lot of money and almost equivalent to the asset value of SPTC. This money is too much and SPTC cannot afford to pay up the sum.”
