Turkish mobile operator Turkcell has welcomed the progress made in its legal battle with South African mobile operator MTN.
MTN this week filed a Statement of Defence plea in the South African High Court over a disputed 2004 telecommunications operating licence bid in Iran.
Turkcell has brought several international and local claims against MTN for allegedly causing the Turkish rival to lose the licence bid, through an overturned decision, using alleged acts of bribery and corruption.
“After years of attempting to delay the case, MTN and certain of the defendants have finally filed pleas responding to the allegations of Turkcell’s particulars,” said Turkcell legal and regulation executive VP Serhat Demir in a statement on Wednesday.
Turkcell was confident that the pleas would be rejected by the court and that the case would be scheduled for trial in the coming months.
Turkcell is seeking $4.2-billion in damages after MTN acquired a 49% interest in Irancell Communication Services, the company that was awarded the second GSM licence in Iran, in November 2005.
“We look forward to bringing the facts and the testimony before the court at trial to prove our case in full,” Demir concluded.