Africa-Press – Rwanda. RECENTLY listed Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) has raised a liability to pay N$70 million to the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) following a High Court ruling.
MTC’s recently released interim financial statements indicate that it settled the N$70 million, which needed to be paid for the period ending 31 March 2022.
“The directors note that the High Court has ruled on the matter of the licence regime and as a result, the matter has been settled with the regulator for an amount of N$70 million, which has been accrued in full in the results for the period ending 31 March 2022,” reads a note in the financial statements.
This week, Cran indicated that it had reached a settlement agreement on the levy dispute.
The agreement closes a 10-year legal dispute about regulatory levies for the period 31 March 2016 to 11 June 2018.
This comes after MTC and certain industry players challenged section 23 of the Communications Act in the High Court in 2012, to determine the constitutionality of the regulatory levies enforced by Cran.
Both parties have been engaged in negotiations over an extensive period and all pending cases between themwere withdrawn in the High Court.
Cran chief executive Emilia Nghikembua said the settlement agreement is a pivotal step towards restoring a harmonious working relationship between the two institutions to benefit information and communication technology consumers.
“Additionally, it has brought to an end a long, protracted and expensive litigation process. We are particularly pleased that we can now jointly focus on promoting technological innovation and the deployment of advanced facilities and services in order to support the social and economic growth of Namibia,” she said.
Questions sent to MTC were not answered at the time of going to print. The company’s shares started off the week trading at N$7,88 per share.
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