According to sources, Augere Pakistan has been refrained by the
international court located in Singapore from starting WiMax
operations in Pakistan. Sources close to Augere have confirmed that
Telecard’s litigation with Wi-Tribe (previously Burraq Telecom) has
resulted in a decision which goes in the favor of later.
This litigation has created a much tensed environment within Augere
and as a result of recent proceedings in the international court
senior management is no more interested in future operations of the
company. When called at company’s office, it was revealed that few
decision makers including the CEO has left the company and the post is
lying vacant.
The restraining order against Telecard was first issued on February 19
2008 by a local court at the instance of Wi-Tribe Limited, which
claimed to have entered a joint venture agreement with Telecard.
In its petition, Wi-Tribe Limited had claimed that it had executed a
joint venture with Telecard Limited under which Telecard was required
to apply for the splitting of its 14 licences into a total
of 28 licenses, out of which 14 would have been then transferred to a
Telecard subsidiary for eventual transfer to Wi-Tribe Limited.
According to the scheme agreed between Telecard and Wi-Tribe, Telecard
was to have the licenses split in such a manner that 14 of the 28
newly issued licences would have assigned to Telecard the 3.5 GHZ band
frequencies only. These 14 licenses were then to be transferred to
Telecard subsidiary Broadband Services (Pvt) Limited, 90 percent of
which would have then been bought by Burraq Telecom Limited and Wi-
Tribe Limited.
The value of the licenses was agreed at US $22.5 million, which would
have been paid by Broadband Services Limited to Telecard as the sale
price of licenses.
Wi-tribe officially avoided to give details on the recent decision but
sources at the company confirmed that legally Augere can not start its
business as Telecard has not executed the joint venture conditions
fully. Telecard must have deceived Augere as well at the time of
agreement by not disclosing them the exact details of the venture
between Telecard and Wi-tribe.
Mudassar Jehangir
www.apnatime.com