SiriComm recently filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri. Upon the Dec. 21 court filing, the bankruptcy court assumed jurisdiction over the assets of the Joplin, Mo.-based company. SiriComm is operating its business on a limited basis as a debtor-in-possession.
SiriComm announced on Nov. 20 that ViaSat, its core network and Internet provider, turned off the connectivity between the SiriComm network nodes, effectively disabling SiriComm’s entire wireless network. ViaSat officials on Nov. 19 had filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California claiming SiriComm owned the company $1.11 million plus 9.5 percent interest per annum.
After giving SiriComm numerous opportunities to pay off the debt, while continuing to work with the networking company, Los Angeles-based ViaSat terminated service on Nov. 16, the court documents indicate. ViaSat had asked for $1.15 million in damages. Though ViaSat’s lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on Nov. 20, the huge debt was one of those listed in SiriComm’s bankruptcy filing.
