HELSINKI, Finland-Telenor, the Oslo-based Norwegian state telecom company, has been stung into legal action in Portugal, following the “premature and unwarranted” closure of the Portuguese mobile-phone start-up OniWay.
The legal action is intended to overturn the closure decision. Telenor holds a 20-percent equity stake in OniWay and insists it would have considered raising its ownership had it been approached as part of a financial rescue strategy.
ONI, which is controlled by Electricidade de Portugal, holds a 68-percent interest in OniWay, which holds one of four licenses awarded in Portugal to provide third-generation (3G) mobile services.
“We are taking legal action against both ONI and OniWay,” said Telenor Mobile spokesman Dag Vangsnes. “This is not what we wanted, but we do believe it is the only avenue open to Telenor right now,” he said.
Taking their lead from ONI, shareholders in OniWay holding a combined interest of 72 percent have voted to approve a deal to sell OniWay’s assets to the three rival mobile operators in Portugal.
This will result in the company’s liquidation of OniWay, whose future was compromised when ONI, its largest shareowner with 52 percent, decided to withdraw its promise of a US$530 million capital injection that would have financed OniWay’s launch onto Portugal’s mobile telephony market.
The proposed liquidation was voted through despite the objections of Telenor and Spain’s Iberdrola. The Spanish power company holds 8 percent of the shares in OniWay.
“We have filed a lawsuit with the Lisbon Commercial Court to try to suspend and then reverse the decision to close OniWay,” said Vangsnes.
Telenor will argue that the company was denied “rightful access” to crucial documentation concerning the sale of OniWay’s assets to TMN, a company owned by Portugal Telecom; Vodafone Telecel; and Sonae.com subsidiary Optimus.
“Telenor and Iberdrola were not invited to participate in negotiations with the three other operators, as was, we believe our legal right. We will pursue this right in court,” said Vangsnes.
