Orange threatens int’l lawsuit over 2G licence fees

AMMAN — Orange Jordan will resort to international arbitration in the US if no deal is reached soon with the government to set a “reasonable” price for renewing its second generation (2G) licence, its CEO Jean-François Thomas said on Saturday.

Orange Jordan, 51 per cent of which is owned by France Telecom, filed lawsuits at the Higher Court of Justice and the Amman Court of First Instance against the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), which decided to charge it JD156 million for renewing the 2G licence for 15 years.

“We... may soon resort to the US-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes after the government decided to charge us a high price for renewing the 2G licence,” Thomas told reporters. 

“This amount is too high and will negatively affect the company and the sector,” he added.

The company’s 2G licence expired on May 8, which means that the TRC can notify the operator to stop accepting new subscribers or eventually disconnect services.

“We [will] not pay the JD156 million because we believe it is unfair and unreasonably high,” Thomas said.

TRC officials were unavailable for comment despite attempts by The Jordan Times to reach them, but ICT Minister Azzam Sleit said in late April that the decision to set JD156.4 million as the renewal fee was taken after objective studies.

He said the fact that the government, through the Social Security Corporation, owns 30 per cent of Orange Jordan’s shares does not entitle it to special treatment in 2G licence pricing.

The government will pay around JD50 million of the licence fees as a shareholder, the minister noted.

The TRC has also said that the price was in accordance with the law and the actual value of the licence in the market at present.

“We do not and will not stop services for our customers. We tried to reach a compromise with the TRC but to no avail,” Thomas noted.

Raslan Diranieh, chief financial officer of the Jordan Telecom Group, said if the company pays JD156 million for renewing the 2G licence, its ability to further invest in the country will be harmed. 

Orange Jordan invested more than JD700 million in Jordan over the past 15 years.

“It will also be difficult for Orange Jordan to invest in the fourth generation, which is a big loss to the company,” Diranieh added.

The company said the TRC should have issued regulations three to five years before it was time to renew the 2G licence. Such regulations should clarify the renewal process and how the fee is calculated.

“Orange Jordan employs about 2,000 persons in terms of direct jobs and provides jobs for 7,000 families indirectly,” the CEO said. 

Last week, Orange said it was in talks with the government to renew its 2G licence for five years instead of 15 years, but no breakthrough in the talks has been reported.