New World Telephone Loses CyberWorks Fees Appeal, Paper Says
By Kenneth Wong
Hong Kong, March 7 (Bloomberg) -- New World Telephone Ltd., has lost an appeals court bid to prevent a trial that could cost it more than HK$375 million in call delivery fees it is claiming from Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd., the South China Morning Post reported.
In 1995, New World Telephone, the fixed-line phone unit of New World Development Co., was linked to the international long- distance gateway for Hong Kong, which is controlled by Hong Kong Telecom -- now owned by CyberWorks' and known as PCCW-HKT. That gave rise to payment of fees by PCCW-HKT to New World for international calls switched to its network.
CyberWorks said that some calls destined for its own customers were illegally diverted by New World. CyberWorks sued for repayment of HK$280 million in fees paid to New World from 1997 to 1998, and refused to pay an outstanding HK$95 million. In April, a judge refused to give New World an order defining in its favor the term ``delivery fee'' in local telecommunications rules, making a trial unnecessary. The current case was New World's appeal of that ruling.
Evidence suggested New World Telephone ``actively attempted to conceal'' from PCCW-HKT call hijacking, or rerouting of international calls intended for PCCW-HKT onto its network, the paper quoted Court of Appeal Justice Simon Mayo as saying. The case will now proceed to trial unless the parties settle or New World appeals yesterday's ruling to the city's top court.
New World is one of three fixed-line phone operators that compete with CyberWorks, which provides more than 90 percent of Hong Kong's phone lines.
(South China Morning Post, 03/07/01, Business p.3) Click on {CNMP } to view the newspaper's website.
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