Polkomtel terminates contract with Huawei

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Polkomtel terminated the agreement signed more than three years ago with Huawei Polska to implement a comprehensive IT system.

Delays in implementation

The Management Board of Cyfrowy Polsat officially informed about the decision taken by the Management Board of the subsidiary Polkomtel to deliver to Huawei Polska on 27 November 2019 a statement on withdrawal from the agreement concluded on 23 June 2016 on implementation of the BES IT system together with provision of support and development. The system was to be used as an integrated sales system, for customer service and settlements of products and services.

Polkomtel’s decision results, among other things, from the fact that the original schedule provided for the completion of the project within 18 months, and now it is 41 months since the signing of the agreement. The implementation deadline was not met, despite the signing of the extension annex.

Polkomtel informed Huawei that it intends to file claims under the agreement as well as a demand for reimbursement of the paid remuneration. At the same time, Polkomtel informed Huawei that failure to meet the above claims would result in launching the procedure for the execution of the bank guarantee and the procedures for recovering the amount due.

Scope of works greater than planned

In a statement sent to the media, Huawei explains that the extension of the project schedule, which was jointly agreed by the parties, was mainly due to a significant extension of the scope of work. Huawei also expresses its readiness and determination to find a positive solution to the situation in order to complete the project using open and transparent communication.

According to unconfirmed information, the value of the contract was estimated at approximately PLN 300 million at the time of its conclusion, while its value doubled in the course of subsequent works.

Asseco Poland as subcontractor

Under the concluded implementation agreement, Huawei used the services of several subcontractors, including Asseco Poland, which was responsible, among others, for transformation of the existing Polkomtel systems in order to migrate data to the new environment.

According to the information quoted by the Rzeczpospolita daily, the company withdrew from the Huawei agreement even before Polkomtel had done so. Ewa Kryj-Satalecka, Director of Public Relations and Investor Relations at Asseco Poland, explained that this was caused by Huawei’s breach of the agreement. According to her, the company has received most of the remuneration for its services and is waiting only for a part of the payment from Huawei.