Drillers take Ericsson to court over cabling

By Keith Newman

Disgruntled drillers seeking $148 million in compensation for their efforts on Telecom's aborted suburban cable television network had documents supporting their claims filed with the Auckland High Court yesterday.

Chris Booth, lawyer for Netcom and Taupo Thrusting Company (TTC) are suing Ericsson, the prime contractor on the project, and its senior management for breach of contract, misrepresentation and misleading conduct.
Ericsson has filed a defence and counter claims.

Netcom and TTC have sought four extensions to gather
documented evidence of their claim since the case reached the High Court in November last year.

They represent 30 sub-contractors who worked on the Telecom cable project which was abandoned in November 1997. The parties will now go before Justice Williams on May 27 to decide on liability and whether a court hearing is necessary.