Telekom finally pays up

Telekom Malaysia has paid DeTeAsia, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, USD232 million after the International Court of Arbitration ruled against its mobile subsidiary Celcom for breach of contract related to the sale of the operator to Telekom in 2003. Last month Celcom had its UK-based assets frozen by the High Court of Justice in London after Telekom refused to hand over the USD177.2 million plus interest it was ordered to pay DeTeAsia in August 2005. Telekom had been seeking to annul the lawsuit, claiming that the ruling could not be enforced in Malaysia. ‘This payment was made under protest and with full reservation of Celcom’s rights,’ Telekom said in a statement, adding that the payment was made on 27 January via a UK court.