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The Competition Tribunal on Thursday confirmed the settlement agreement reached between telecommunications group Telkom and the Competition Commission.
Telkom admitted to anticompetitive behaviour and agreed to pay a fine of R200-million over three years.
It also agreed to implement a functional separation of its wholesale and retail businesses. This would entail that Telkom Wholesale would treat other licensed operators and Telkom Retail in a nondiscriminatory manner when providing services, and protect their confidential information.
In addition, Telkom would adopt a transfer-pricing programme that would regulate transactions in the provision of network services between its wholesale and retail business divisions in accordance with the transfer-pricing programme.
The telecommunications group on Thursday welcomed the tribunal's confirmation of the settlement agreement, saying that the agreement marked the beginning of a new era in the communications sector.
“We believe the conclusion of this agreement is an essential element of our transformation journey. It will allow the company to move beyond legacy complaints and litigation that have been a drag on performance, strategic focus and sound partnerships and which occupied the attention of senior executives for a long period.
"Concluding the agreement enables Telkom to focus on aspects of the business that are critical to its future success. These include improving the profitability of the business, enhancing the service that customers deserve and ensuring the long-term commercial sustainability of the company,” group CEO Sipho Maseko said in a statement.
The group stated that it would now focus on the implementation of all the provisions of the agreement and the compliance processes it had committed to put in place.