About 6 weeks ago, I wrote about Cybersurf winning an application in front of the CRTC, only to be stymied in getting the ILECs to follow through.
That win follows a lengthy period of billing disputes that Cybersurf has been engaged in with Bell. Time appears to have run out and Cybersurf has signed a letter of intent to sell its core business, including its user base and assets related to its high speed, long distance and VoIP services in Canada. Cybersurf’s president and CEO, Paul Mercia, didn’t mince words in the official press release:
This is primarily due to the stress the company has had to endure as a result of the prolonged and on-going billing dispute with Bell Canada… There’s no telling at this rate how much longer it will go on, and the Company has mounting legal costs and demands on its resources. Because of Bell’s overbilling and claim for overstated receivables, Cybersurf had accrued millions of dollars in payables and liabilities and was not able to secure financing when it was available; and now even with the Company’s positive financial outlook the current economic climate and adverse market conditions have made it impossible for Cybersurf to raise financing on equitable terms.
This kind of language reads as though it is setting up a case for future action. Cybersurf also took aim at the CRTC, saying that Commission processes are taking too long.
The company is not going away quietly. I doubt that this is the last we will hear from them.
Bell tried something very similar with Look Communications. Perhaps if Cybersurf had followed Look’s example and sued Bell in the courts bypassing the CRTC, the outcome would have been quite different.
ck