BCL backdown on lawsuit

By ADAM GIFFORD

State-owned networking company BCL, which has a monopoly of many of the country's highest spots for its transmission towers, has climbed down in its legal challenge to competitor Walker Wireless.

Lawyers for the companies yesterday told the High Court at Auckland they had reached an out-of-court settlement of their dispute over registration of spectrum licences, and asked for an adjournment while they work through details.

BCL said the deal was confidential and that "it involves the development of a cooperative process for ongoing work."

Spokeswoman Anna Radford said details were commercially sensitive.

"What I have been told about the document is there is nothing bum-biting in it, it is all extremely benign," Radford said. "There were compromises on both sides."

But Walker Wireless chairman Rod Inglis said BCL had agreed to co-site his company's transmitters on its towers - ending years of obstruction on the issue. Adam Gifford