BRUSSELS-Belgacom Mobile said it will appeal a court ruling that requires the operator to suspend a sales promotion for its Proximus cellular service.
The Global System for Mobile communications carrier said the ban was issued after Mobistar, its competitor, complained about the fairness of the promotion.
Belgacom said the court exercised strict laws that do not allow companies to sell at a loss to distributors, only to customers directly. The company said the January campaign and other promotional efforts were intended to provide consumers access to products by having attractive prices.
Belgacom reported it had 409,000 users at the end of 1996, of which 44,000 were added in December.
Belgacom Mobile is owned 75 percent by Belgacom S.A. and 25 percent by AirTouch Communications Inc. Belgacom S.A. is state owned with minority partners Ameritech Corp., Singapore Telecom, Tele Danmark and other Belgian investors.
Mobistar is a venture of France Telecom International Mobiles, Telinfo NV, a Belgian data communications company, and a group of Belgian investors.
