SkyWi Rebuts New Mexico Obituary, Braces for Suit
SkyWi isn’t quitting the VoIP business in New Mexico, despite the state Public Regulation Commission’s saying otherwise, CEO Allen Witters told us Thursday. Since fall, the VoIP provider and incumbent Qwest have been dueling over what SkyWi owes Qwest and whether Qwest has broken antitrust law. At times, Qwest has cut SkyWi service. SkyWi has said it’s “Qwest-proofing” itself by moving users to other carriers. The New Mexico regulator has twice ordered 10 days’ notice before any cutoffs (CD Jan 30 p5).
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“Tuesday at around noon I gave the commission a letter announcing that we were dropping our preliminary injunction request, and that we were dismantling our legacy network, involving 200 or 300 lines, in four states,” Witters said. “From that the PRC concluded that we were ceasing operations in New Mexico due to financial difficulties, and they made an announcement that day to that effect.” The commission, which had scheduled a meeting Friday to take up a cutoff notice against SkyWi expected from Qwest, quickly recanted. “A press release was issued February 10, 2009, announcing that SkyWi stated that it no longer has the financial resources to continue operations in the State of New Mexico,” a Wednesday commission release said. “This in-fact is NOT the case at this time.”
Also on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Johnson in Albuquerque rejected Qwest’s request to throw out a suit by SkyWi alleging monopolistic practices by the carrier. “We're very happy that our suit wasn’t dismissed, and that Judge Johnson finds it viable,” Witters said.
Johnson did grant a motion by Qwest to move the SkyWi suit to U.S. District Court in Denver. Witters decried the decision. He said Qwest was pursuing a “deep-pockets” strategy and the move to Denver will increase SkyWi’s expenses and delay the case several weeks. “I trust the federal judicial system,” he said. “It’s fair, but you have to deal with the deep-pocket issue. I'm sad that we have to go this route in order to survive to fight another day.” Qwest spokesmen didn’t return calls seeking comment.