COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- TDC Switzerland received a ruling from the Swiss Federal Court in the interconnection proceedings that have been ongoing since April 2000. Since January 1, 2000, Swisscom has been required to calculate its prices for interconnection services based on the Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) principle. However, the prices charged by Swisscom have been disputed by TDC Switzerland.
For the period 2000-2003 the Court has finally approved in principle the prices previously set by the Federal Communications commission (ComCom) in June 2005. The now approved prices of ComCom are substantially lower than the prices charged by Swisscom. Only in a minor point, the Court has ordered ComCom to recalculate the prices of Swisscom. This recalculation is expected to be finalized before the end of 2006. The prices for 2004-2006 will be defined in accordance with the principles for the final prices for 2000-2003.
TDC has now finalized its assessment of the ruling and has applied certain assumptions regarding the final outcome of the proceedings regarding the recalculation of the prices, cf above, and the relevant volumes of interconnection traffic. In accordance with IFRS, TDC has estimated the income that is assessed to be virtually certain, and accordingly TDC estimates that the financial impact for TDC Switzerland for the years 2000-2005 will result in an income before tax of CHF 186m (DKK 890m). This income will be reported as a special item in Q2 2006.
The estimated impact for 2006 will amount to CHF 12m (DKK 57m) before tax. This income will be reported as a reduction of transmission costs. The outlook for 2006 EBITDA from TDC Switzerland remains unchanged.
Due to the above-mentioned outstanding issues regarding the prices for 2000-2003 and 2004-2006 as well as the relevant volumes, the timing of the impact on the cash flow for TDC cannot be precisely determined. It is expected that the majority of the income will result in cash receipts during 2006-2007.
For further information, please contact Investor Relations on +45 3343 7680.
TDC A/S Noerregade 21 DK-0900 Copenhagen C Denmark www.tdc.com