Aug 6, 2003 : AT&T, MCI Spar Over Reorganization Plan

📅 August 6, 2003 - U.S. communications firm MCI (mci.com) has countered AT&T's (att.com) objection to its reorganization plan.

The company said in a recent filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District Court of New York that AT&T's July 28 objection to MCI's plan of reorganization was baseless and designed to ?delay and derail? MCI's reorganization efforts. AT&T had filed an objection alleging that MCI adjusted its voice call routing systems to avoid paying local access fees. MCI denied the allegations, stating that preliminary reviews of an internal investigation showed the company complied with legal and regulatory requirements. The company said AT&T's claims were being made strictly for competitive gain.
MCI called AT&T's filing "a misuse of the bankruptcy process," and because AT&T's allegations are "demonstrably false and do not bear upon the company's proposed plan of reorganization," the Court should dismiss AT&T's objection, MCI said.
MCI added that it has made several requests to AT&T asking for documentation to back up its claims, but its efforts were declined.
"That response underscores AT&T's true motivation here, which is not to assure that any challenged improper practices are corrected, but rather to delay and derail the company's reorganization efforts," said MCI.
Worldcom, which later changed its name to MCI, filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-2002.