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Not guilty verdict in “call-back” appeal case
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Posted on Nov 07 2000
Noumea (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, SPC/PINA Nius Online) – An appeal court in New Caledonia has found former Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT) general manager Pierre Frappier, not guilty of barring “call-back” users in the French territory.
Frappier, who has since retired from the top job in OPT, had been charged on the count of voluntarily obstructing telecommunications into New Caledonia when he was still in office between 1994 and 1996.
He was and earlier found guilty by a Nouméa court.
He had been sentenced to three months suspended jail and 440,000 French Pacific Francs (CFP, around 3,200 US dollars) fine.
The case was last week heard in appeal.
It related to complaints that New Caledonia residents had not been able to use the “call-back” system.
The system, which is being offered from US companies and promotes cheaper international call rates, implies that the user makes a two-step international call: the first is a call to the call-back company, which then calls the user back on the cheaper rate.
Defence argued that the “call-back” calls had severely congested the small New Caledonian exchange and trunks.
But prosecution alleged the call-back numbers had been purposely identified by OPT and diverted to New Zealand, where the calls were not relayed.
Effectively, the calls were placed on a dead end and never got through.
The appeal court said OPT had a monopoly on traffic going through New Caledonia and that therefore, it was its manager’s duty to have it respected.
The appeal court also said OPT did not stop the calls, it only re-routed them.
“As soon as OPT became aware that the re-routed calls to New Zealand were being cut, it started looking for an alternate route”, Frappier’s lawyer said.
