The IT Nerd

According to MobileSyrup, the deadline for the auction of Mobilicity has been extended again. This time to February 18th of next year. But there’s more:

In addition, from a numbers perspective, Mobilicity is expecting to end 2013 with 175,000 active subscribers, seeing a customer churn rate of 5.1%. The court doc states that Mobilicity has also “maintained stability” and implemented some cost reductions, including moving their head office out of Vaughan and into a “smaller premises” in Woodbridge, plus “terminated certain employees who’s services were no longer required.”

That’s interesting. But the fact that this auction keeps getting delayed can’t be good. But at least customers are not fleeing in droves. That gives them some hope.

If you were wondering what was going to happen to struggling mobile phone carrier Mobilicity, you’ll have to wait a little longer. The Toronto Star is reporting that the bidding deadline has been extended:

Monday’s cut-off was extended to Dec. 16, Ernst & Young LLP, the consulting firm monitoring the sale, said on its website.

So far, Wind Mobile is the only company that has admitted to looking at a bid. Nobody else has, so that may be why this is being extended. Though there may be another party involved according to Mobilesyrup:

There’s no specific reason to why, the doc says it was a from “requests for an extension from Qualified Bidders,” which indicates more than one company meets the qualified bidder status.

So, the plot thickens. One wonders if one of the big 3 are involved. If so, I cannot see such a bid being approved by the Canadian Government. It might be a entity that we’ve never heard of, which would make things really interesting. All I know is that you should check back next week to see what happens.

Mobilesyrup is reporting that troubled Canadian carrier Mobilicity is gearing up to auction itself off to the highest bidder. They cite the following from a court document:

Section 8 states an “update on the proposed transaction,” which could be TELUS’ bid to acquire the carrier. TELUS has now attempted twice to bid for Mobilicity and its spectrum, only to be denied on both occasions. Apparently an offer is still being reviewed by Industry Canada and “the Applicants have continued their efforts in furtherance of their proposed acquisition transaction.”

If this “Proposed Transaction” doesn’t pan out, then Mobilicity is planning to go another route and auctioning off their assets to the highest bidder. The court doc reveals that bidders must submit their intent by December 2nd, then after those deemed as a “Qualified Bidder” will start an auction on December 9th.

So, the way I read this is that the Telus deal is not completely dead, but they have another option should it die. Plus there’s options to buy Mobilicity in whole or in part. But one thing is becoming clear, we’re into the endgame with Mobilicity now. Let’s see how it turns out.

Troubled cell phone company Mobilicity has been looking for a buyer since it went into creditor protection. It’s been speculated that they’ve been trying to get a deal done with Telus even though the Canadian Government has said no to that once. Well, The Globe And Mail can now confirm that it was Telus because the Canadian Government has said no to them again:

Industry Canada confirmed late Tuesday that it provided a confidential answer to Mobilicity about a potential transaction that the small carrier was trying to complete while under court protection from its creditors. Although Industry Canada would not comment on the substance of its response, sources confirmed that government officials turned down the proposed sale.

So. that leaves Mobilicity with very few options with a looming deadline of December 20th to find a buyer. It will be interesting to see whom, if anyone steps up to buy them. Perhaps, it will be Wind as they have expressed interest in them previously. Or perhaps it will be someone else? Perhaps it will be nobody.

This isn’t good for Mobilicity.

CTV News is reporting that troubled cell phone company Mobilicity is in talks with Industry Canada about a buyer. The reason they’re talking to Industry Canada is that they would have to green light any sale:

“We’ve never disclosed who the prospective purchaser is,” lawyer Orestes Pasparakis said Thursday in an interview from Toronto.

“The company is in discussion with Industry Canada (about the proposed deal) and those discussions are continuing,” Pasparakis said.

Now the buyer could be with Telus. But they just bought Public Mobile and may not be in the mood to purchase another company. Besides, Industry Canada shot an attempt to buy them out of the sky a few months ago. It could be with Wind Mobile who has expressed interest in them. Or it could be with someone else. Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever happens, it has to be done by December 20th.

The clock is ticking on Mobilicity.

The troubled wireless carrier has until December 20th to find a buyer:

Justice Frank Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice signed an order Thursday extending the “stay period” during which Mobilicity is shielded from any new or existing legal actions until Dec. 20.

That grace period had been set to expire on Oct. 30, but the company requested additional time to secure the federal government’s approval for a proposed sale. Although Mobilicity has declined to identify its potential buyer, sources say it is in talks with Telus to rekindle a sale process that Ottawa rejected in early June.

And what’s likely not going to help is this:

Separately, it was revealed Thursday that Mobilicity’s president and chief operating officer Stewart Lyons is preparing to leave the company at the end of this month.

The optics of that just suck.

However, if you’re one of the big three and you can work out a deal that the Canadian Government won’t shoot out of the sky, maybe you can get Mobilicity for pennies? Seeing as Telus just bought Public Mobile, anything is possible.

It was rumoured and now it has happened. Mobilicity has filed for protection. Here’s the story from The Toronto Star:

The company announced it received protection from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, which Mobilicity said will give it time to organize its affairs.

The Financial Post is reporting that Canadian cell phone carrier Mobilicity is near bankrupt and is willing to transferring 200,000 customers to Wind Mobile for little to no compensation:

The National Post has learned the Toronto-area carrier, formally known as Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises (DAVE) Wireless, hopes to shut down its money-losing consumer operations by the end of the month. Two separate industry sources said the agreement, which is still being negotiated, would see Toronto-based Wind assume Mobilicity’s customers for little-to-no financial compensation. Investors who hold Mobilicity’s debt would retain the carrier’s spectrum licences and its tax losses in the hopes of selling those assets down the road to a separate buyer.

The question is if this is true or not. The Edmonton Journal is reporting that Mobilicity is denying the Financial Post story:

“The report that we are transferring our subscriber base to Wind is not true,” said Mobilicity’s chief restructuring officer Bill Aziz in a statement.

Now Wind isn’t commenting on the story, but the timing is interesting given the 17th is the deadline to put down deposits for the spectrum auction. Might this news change the plans of some of the entrants? We shall see.