Telecom and Vodafone settle mobile dispute

Thursday 7th May 2009

Vodafone Group, the world’s biggest mobile phone company, dropped its High Court injunction after rival Telecom agreed to increase filtering on its new network to prevent interference.

The concessions mean a delay in the launch of Telecom’s XT mobile network, which had been slated for May 13 but will now be around the end of the month.

The costs of extending filtering on its network are confidential, said Telecom spokesman Mark Watts.

“We’re delighted to have got a deal in the small hours of this morning, outside of the court,” Watts said. “Every deal means an element of compromise,” he said.

In a joint statement, Vodafone and Telecom said they had worked together over the past 48 hours to resolve outstanding issues.

“Telecom has agreed to extend its network filter installation programme, in order to help resolve the interference issues identified as impacting Vodafone mobile customers,” it said.

Vodafone beat Telecom with the launch of 3G and this month’s start of XT mobile marks the New Zealand carrier’s catch-up. Vodafone complained that customers were getting interference on calls and texts as Telecom tested its network, because of the proximity of their frequencies.

Telecom is spending $574 million on the rollout of its W-CDMA network, which operates on a frequency of 850MHz. Vodafone’s network runs on 900MHz.

Shares of Telecom rose 1.8% to $2.83 yesterday, bringing their gain this year to 21%.

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