Doug on IP Comm » Ottawa

Common sense takes hold – Mitel won't sue Ottawa over VoIP contract

Doug Mohney — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:57:19 +0000

Mitel won’t sue the city of Ottawa over aVoIP contract award that went over to Bell Canada and Cisco, reports the Ottawa Citizen.

Issuing a statement yesterday, the company said “Although Mitel has been advised that there are legal grounds to seek judicial review of the City’s decision, we have concluded that it would not be in the best interests of Mitel, the City, nor its taxpayers to proceed further with this matter.”

Last week, Mitel was threatening to sue the city of Ottawa, but after much review, the city decided to soldier on, advised by its procurement people that Mitel’s protests were not valid and by its lawyers that Bell Canada and Cisco likely had the better case to sue if the procurement process — worth $7 million (CN) – was restarted.

Mitel invested significant time and energy trying to get a do-over for the Ottawa VoIP contract, first offering $2 million (CN) worth of VoIP phones as a “gift” in exchange for getting exclusive rights for it and its partners to supply VoIP services. When that didn’t work, it withdrew the gift and started threatening to sue if the procurement process wasn’t overturned, as it started an extensive lobbying campaign that included hiring the former mayor of Ottawa to talk to city officials.

Ottawa moves forward with VoIP contract despite Mitel protests and threats

Doug Mohney — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:35:02 +0000

The city council of Ottawa voted 16-5 to award a $6 million (CN) VoIP contract to Bell Canada and Cisco yesterday, reports The Ottawa Citizen. Will Mitel now sue over how the contract was handled, as it has threatened?

Mitel has waged a concerted PR and lobbying effort to get the current procurement thrown out, even going so far as hiring former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli to press the flesh with councillors; Chiarelli has declined to speak with the Citizen on the work he has done on behalf of Mitel.

Ottawa city staff and advisors, including an independent procurement expert, have reviewed and rejected Mitel’s positions on all points, ranging from an allegation that Cisco had an unfair advantage on the VoIP bid because it had earlier won a contract this year to upgrade the city’s computer systems to a $2 million “gift” offer of VoIP phones in exchange for exclusive rights to supply VoIP telephony to the city.

Mitel presses Ottawa over lost VoIP contract

Doug Mohney — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:09:11 +0000

Mitel doesn’t know when to quit, but will the PR damage be worth the cost? While we Yanks were getting an early start for the 4th on the 3rd, The Ottawa Citizen reports that Ottawa’s procurement experts said the city should reject Mitel’s protests on a VoIP contract award and immediately give the business to Bell and Cisco Systems.

This whole fiasco started in April, when Mitel first alleged the contract process was unfair while at the same time offering a $2 million (CN) “gift” of VoIP phones in exchange for an exclusive deal to provide technology and services. The “gift” was turned down, but Mitel has continued to press the attack, threatening legal action and waging a PR campaign to explain what it thought was wrong with the bid process.

Mitel wants the process canceled immediately, and start all over again. The company is whining that Cisco had an unfair advantage in the phone contract because it had been awarded a contract to upgrade the computer network — (Hello, what kind of BS is this? 1) Wasn’t the Cisco network win publicly announced by the city? Bet it was 2) Uh, IP is IP; shouldn’t make a difference if Juniper or Cisco or Nortel (well, strike last) equipment is in the core of the city’s network. VoIP is an app that goes on top of the network).

An independent review found Mitel’s claims “overblown.”

IMHO, Mitel should suck it up and move on. It tried to bribe, er “gift” its way back into contention in exchange for an exclusive to supply the city with VoIP tech. When that didn’t work, it started making noises about not knowing that Cisco had upgraded the computer network and started making noises about suing over the contract. Trying to bribe and bully your way into business is not a way to earn good will.