25 November - 1 December 1999

Decision on mobile service could cause 'irreparable damage'

by David Kelleher

The Regulator's decision not to allow Maltacom to offer mobile telephony services has caught the company by surprise and it fears that any delay could also cause Maltcom irreparable damage.

"Maltacom is astonished by the Regulator's communication dated 9 November and received on 15 November. One would have expected that by now the government would have made up its mind on this. Any delay on Maltacom may result in irreparable damage," a statement in the financial reports said.

The company is actively considering disengaging itself from Vodafone and Mr Zarb Adami stressed that the two companies were not at war with each other.

"With regards to Vodafone you can say we have a love-hate relationship. We are not at war. The company intends to enter the mobile market as a competitor when a solution to the present problems are solved," he said. "Both companies have to adjust their position to take into account changes in the sector. We intend to become a major player in mobile cellular services," he added.

The chairman said Maltacom still had a 20 per cent shareholding in Vodafone and had still not decided whether to exercise its share option to increase shareholding to 50.1 per cent.

"We are still studying various options. If we enter the market as a competitor we will have to re-consider our position at Vodafone. In this case it would not be right to have a presence on the board of directors because we would know what our competitors are doing.

"However, an agreement could be reached with Vodafone on the choice of a Maltacom representative to take care of our interests. In time we would also sell our 20 per cent share. But these things are not done in a hurry," Mr Zarb Adami told The Malta Business Weekly.