MTN will "vigorously" defend the Turkcell lawsuit, the Turkish operator's fifth claim arising from the unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran, it says.
The latest attempt by Turkcell was issued out of the South Gauteng High Court this week. Like the four previous cases, this matter emanates from Turkcell's alleged grievances arising from its unsuccessful bid to obtain a mobile licence in Iran, and the award of that licence to Irancell.
While the summons has not yet been served on it, MTN understands that the claim is against MTN, its wholly owned subsidiary, MTN International and others, in which Turkcell claims an amount of some $4.2 billion, plus interest and legal costs.
Turkcell and MTN have been involved in a legal wrangle over Iran's first cellphone licence for some time after Turkcell claimed the Johannesburg-based company used bribery to win a mobile licence in Iran that was first awarded to Turkcell.
In May, Turkcell dropped the $4.5 billion lawsuit it filed in the US last March, citing a recent US Supreme Court ruling that hurt its case. Its latest filing is a continuation of the legal process it started in the US, but had to abandon.
"A change in the jurisdiction laws of the United States resulted in Turkcell's withdrawal of its lawsuit without prejudice at that time, and the company maintains its position regarding the merit of the case."
MTN says three of the lawsuits brought by Turkcell and its subsidiary, East Asian Consortium (EAC), have already been dismissed, including one against MTN and MTN International. The latest lawsuit is "premised on substantially the same unfounded allegations which were made in the US proceedings". It says: "we view this as nothing but a spurious attempt to claim monies to which Turkcell is not entitled".
MTN owns a 49% stake in Iran's second cellphone operator, Irancell, and was awarded the licence in 2005. This is now MTN's second-largest operation, after Nigeria, with 41.3 million subscribers.
A commission MTN set up, headed by Lord Leonard Hoffman, earlier this year dismissed allegations that MTN employed underhanded tactics to acquire a the licence.
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