Vodafone (VOD) New Zealand said Wednesday it welcomed the Supreme Court of New Zealand's decision to hear its appeal on whether the amount it paid Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. (TEL.NZ) for providing telecommunication services to non-commercially viable customers between 2003 and 2004 was fairly calculated.

Vodafone is disputing how the Commerce Commission calculates the cost of providing this service and wants to recover the nearly NZ$11 million paid to Telecom for this period.

If successful this could result in Telecom having to repay millions of dollars to other telecom companies in New Zealand, who have paid the levy since 2001.

Under the terms of Telecommunications Act, other phone companies effectively paid a levy to Auckland-based Telecom, the country's largest telecom firm by sales and market share, in compensation for maintaining rural services including free local calling.

Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen said Vodafone welcomed the decision to have its appeal heard but could not speak further about the particulars of the case because it was before the court.

Several other court cases involving other periods were also before the court, he said.

Telecom spokesman Mark Watts refused to comment on the case.

Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; lucy.craymer@dowjones.com
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