Telco letter 'grovels' to minister, says English

A letter from Vodafone used to publicly defend Communications Minister David Cunliffe proves how wary companies are about getting offside with the Government, the National Party claims.

The mobile phone giant was asked by the minister's office to send the apologetic letter on Tuesday, and Mr Cunliffe's staff later released it publicly.

The letter states that Vodafone didn't intend any criticism of Mr Cunliffe in a High Court case last year.

It goes on to apologise for a "very unfortunate situation" which saw Mr Cunliffe criticised in a court judgment, and offers to publicly confirm Vodafone's position "should it be helpful at any time".

National tried earlier in the week to use the relevant court judgment to attack Mr Cunliffe, linking it to the gaffe he made in commenting about Telecom's dividend.

But National's criticism was rebutted when Vodafone's letter, carrying Tuesday's date, was released by Mr Cunliffe's office.

"Companies in the telecommunications and energy industries will have to learn how to grovel to ministers if they want to stay out of trouble," National's deputy finance spokesman, Bill English, said last night.

Vodafone and Telecom are currently awaiting a decision from Mr Cunliffe about regulation of mobile termination rates - fees mobile operators charge fixed phone services to end calls on the mobile networks.

The Commerce Commission has recommended that the Government regulate the fees, a move which could hurt Vodafone's profits.

Mr Cunliffe was to have accepted submissions on the matter until May 22 before making a final decision.

Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday claimed that the letter was drafted by Vodafone shortly after the court case last year but "was finalised" on Tuesday.

A Vodafone spokeswoman last night confirmed a letter to Mr Cunliffe had been drafted around November but it was never actually sent to him.

Helen Clark yesterday continued to strongly defend Mr Cunliffe over his Telecom comments, arguing that he hadn't "clearly breached" Cabinet guidelines which warn ministers against commenting about the prospects of publicly listed companies.

She noted the guidelines are "not laws" and added that Mr Cunliffe believed he was cautious when he commented about Telecom's dividend.