South African telecommunications firm, MTN, has gained a longstanding $4 billion lawsuit introduced in opposition to it by Turkish telecommunications group, Turkcell.

Background of the case

After MTN gained the licence for a 49% stake in working Iran’s first non-public cellphone community in 2005, Turkcell filed a lawsuit in opposition to the corporate, accusing it of paying bribes to accumulate the licence which Turkcell was additionally pursuing. 

MTN Irancell had 51.7 million clients with nearly $5 billion in annual income. It was the primary cell community operator to launch a industrial 5G community in Iran, in February 2021.

In keeping with court docket paperwork and extra reporting by MyBroadband, Turkcell claimed that MTN “bribed officers, organized conferences for Iran with South African leaders, and promised Iran weapons and United Nations votes in change for a stake in Irancell.”

In 2013, after attempting and failing to sue MTN in Washington DC, Turkcell introduced the case to the excessive court docket of South Africa, with MTN and its subsidiaries named as defendants.

In November 2020, Turkcell withdrew as a plaintiff, leaving its wholly-owned subsidiary East Asian Consortium B.V. (EAC) as the only plaintiff within the motion in opposition to MTN.

Response to the judgement

In a judgement handed down by the Excessive Court docket of South Africa on November 30, 2022, Turkcell subsidiary EAC’s motion in opposition to MTN was dismissed with prices, placing an finish to the Turkcell litigation. 

In a press release printed on the Johannesburg Inventory Alternate Information Service (SENS), MTN acknowledged that it’s delighted on the final result because it has persistently maintained that the Turkcell litigation was with out benefit.

In early November, MTN sold its Afghanistan enterprise for $35 million, signalling the top of its presence within the Center East area after 15 years. MTN acknowledged that it wished to give attention to its African operations as a part of efforts to simplify its construction and cut back publicity in riskier markets.