The Commercial Court has ordered Uganda Telecom to pay MTN Ushs5billion as part of monies owed in Inter-Connect Fees for the period 2008-2009.
The Head of the Commercial Court, Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, ruled against UTL in the principal sum of Ushs3.5billion, with interest up to October 2008 amounting to Ushs1.5billion, and additional interest of 19% of the full amount until payment is made in full.
Court also awarded MTN Uganda damages of Ushs100million.
MTN last month issued a public notice against Uganda Telecom over a Ushs20billion debt accumulated in unpaid interconnect fees collected from subscribers but not remitted to MTN as per contract. The ruling constitutes one of the debts MTN sued for.
The case, the first of two, was a lawsuit MTN brought against UTL for not paying fees accumulated on the Gemtel code.
MTN sued for Ushs3.48 billion and claimed interest at a rate of 19% per annum, which as of October 2008 stood at Ushs1.5billion. MTN also sought general damages of Ushs500million.
UTL in its defence said it did not owe any money as the traffic was deemed to be international traffic charged at a different rate, Justice Kiryabwire said traffic originating from MTN to UTL code +256477xxx is local traffic and not international traffic as claimed by UTL in their defence. He therefore ruled that the claim by MTN Uganda was successful.
MTN meanwhile has another case in court against UTL for the sum of Ushs7.2billion, and Court noted that the contentious issues in the second case are the same as those in the first case.
Justice Kirywabwire advised both parties to enter into a consent judgement on the grounds that the issues in contention are similar to the ones in the case just concluded in MTNs favour.
He ordered both parties to reconcile of the figures in question out of court and report back on May 23rd for hearing.
"These two cases were for the period 2008 and 2009. For the period 2010 alone we have done a joint reconciliation, and UTL has acknowledged that they owe us Ushs14.6billion for the traffic exchanged during the whole of 2010, which brings the total amount owed to more than Ushs20billion. We trust that these matters will soon be put to rest so that our subscribers are not unduly inconvenienced," MTN CEO Themba Khumalo said.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
East Africa cyber laws coming to boost e-commerce
The five member states that make up the East African Community (EAC) are drafting a harmonised cyber law that is aimed at boosting electronic commerce.
The law will focus on intellectual property rights, competition, e-taxation and information security.
The five states are all at different stages of passing country-specific laws on cyber crime. Late last year, Uganda passed the Computer Misuse Bill, the Electronic Signatures Bill and the Electronic Transactions Bill, which have since become law.
Through the EAC association of telecommunications regulators, the states have in the meantime resolved to set up Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) to fight against cyber crime.
The law formulation process which is now underway by the EAC task force on cyber laws is aimed at harmonizing existing legislation like Uganda’s to come up with a law that will apply across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
The taskforce, which has been meeting in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, hopes to finalise on the draft cyber laws and submit them for adoption by respective institutions.
The Mombasa meeting is a follow up of the phase one cyber laws discussions, endorsed by the EAC Council of Ministers last November, that covered electronic transactions, e-signatures and authentication, data protection and privacy, consumer protection, and computer crime.
Lack of harmonisation of cyber laws by regional member states is not only stifling electronic commerce, but has also created a loophole in curbing computer related crimes, data and consumer protection.
“Developing country officials are increasingly aware of the need to adapt and harmonise legislation to take into account the Internet economy and the potential of both e-commerce and m-commerce for boosting domestic and cross-border business,” read a statement from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
“The intent is to finalise the draft and submit it for adoption by relevant EAC institutions.”
The task force meeting has reviewed progress in implementing the Cyber Law Framework’s Phase I, which covers electronic transactions, electronic signatures and authentication, data protection and privacy, consumer protection, and computer crime.
UNCTAD supports activities to build the capacities of developing countries in the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) field.
In East Africa and other regions, it has helped lawmakers prepare cyber laws that protect both consumers and businesses, and encourage economic growth.
East Africa has a combined population of about 120 million people and is now a single market as it moves towards a political federation.
Cyber crime in Africa is growing faster than on any other continent with estimates saying that about 80 percent of personal computers (PCs) on the African continent are already infected with viruses and other malicious software.
The more worrying news for cyber security experts is that broadband Internet access has become a reality, which means more users would be able to access the web, translating into more viruses and SPAM from online fraudsters in Africa.
A few countries like Tunisia and Nigeria have made some headway by way of legislation on cyber security initiatives.
Most African countries though have no legal regulations in place to stop or prosecute online crime, thus providing a safe haven for cybercriminals.
Aside from Uganda, the other EAC member states are each at different stages of developing country-specific cyber laws.
The law will focus on intellectual property rights, competition, e-taxation and information security.
The five states are all at different stages of passing country-specific laws on cyber crime. Late last year, Uganda passed the Computer Misuse Bill, the Electronic Signatures Bill and the Electronic Transactions Bill, which have since become law.
Through the EAC association of telecommunications regulators, the states have in the meantime resolved to set up Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) to fight against cyber crime.
The law formulation process which is now underway by the EAC task force on cyber laws is aimed at harmonizing existing legislation like Uganda’s to come up with a law that will apply across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
The taskforce, which has been meeting in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, hopes to finalise on the draft cyber laws and submit them for adoption by respective institutions.
The Mombasa meeting is a follow up of the phase one cyber laws discussions, endorsed by the EAC Council of Ministers last November, that covered electronic transactions, e-signatures and authentication, data protection and privacy, consumer protection, and computer crime.
Lack of harmonisation of cyber laws by regional member states is not only stifling electronic commerce, but has also created a loophole in curbing computer related crimes, data and consumer protection.
“Developing country officials are increasingly aware of the need to adapt and harmonise legislation to take into account the Internet economy and the potential of both e-commerce and m-commerce for boosting domestic and cross-border business,” read a statement from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
“The intent is to finalise the draft and submit it for adoption by relevant EAC institutions.”
The task force meeting has reviewed progress in implementing the Cyber Law Framework’s Phase I, which covers electronic transactions, electronic signatures and authentication, data protection and privacy, consumer protection, and computer crime.
UNCTAD supports activities to build the capacities of developing countries in the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) field.
In East Africa and other regions, it has helped lawmakers prepare cyber laws that protect both consumers and businesses, and encourage economic growth.
East Africa has a combined population of about 120 million people and is now a single market as it moves towards a political federation.
Cyber crime in Africa is growing faster than on any other continent with estimates saying that about 80 percent of personal computers (PCs) on the African continent are already infected with viruses and other malicious software.
The more worrying news for cyber security experts is that broadband Internet access has become a reality, which means more users would be able to access the web, translating into more viruses and SPAM from online fraudsters in Africa.
A few countries like Tunisia and Nigeria have made some headway by way of legislation on cyber security initiatives.
Most African countries though have no legal regulations in place to stop or prosecute online crime, thus providing a safe haven for cybercriminals.
Aside from Uganda, the other EAC member states are each at different stages of developing country-specific cyber laws.
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