Telstra has lodged a formal appeal in the New South Wales Federal Court over its exchange and underground duct access pricing increase dispute against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Vocus Communications (ASX: VOC) and iiNet (ASX: IIN) subsidiaries.
The dispute went to court in January 2014 after Vocus Fibre, Adam Internet and Chime Communications appealed the price increase to the ACCC. The ACCC determined that it had jurisdiction to act as arbitrator in the dispute.
At the time, a Telstra spokesman said the price increase was applied under the standard terms of a wholesale contract with the ISPs.
In March, Justice Flick rejected Telstra’s argument that the ACCC had no jurisdiction to arbitrate the dispute and ordered the telco to pay the costs of the respondents.
However, Telstra has now set a preliminary hearing date of April 30 for its appeal in the NSW Federal Court.
A Telstra spokeswoman told Computerworld Australia that it was appealing the judgement because it disagreed with the decision by Justice Flick.
“We are seeking clarification on some important points relating to our contractual relationship with these customers,” the spokeswoman said.
“We have acted in accordance with our contract and as such we believe there are no grounds for the dispute.”
Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia