Hawaiian Telcom has officially emerged from Chapter 11, according to its reorganization plan that was previously approved by the bankruptcy court. The service provider previously also previously gained the FCC and the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission's (PSC) approval of its new ownership and capital structure.
By reorganizing the company, Hawaiian Telcom was able to cut $850 million of its debt, or about 74 percent, down to $300 million.
"As was our goal, we have significantly reduced our debt through the Chapter 11 process and have emerged a much stronger, more financially secure company better positioned to address the growth opportunities as the leading communications provider in the Hawaii marketplace," said Eric K. Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom's president and CEO in a release.
During its Chapter 11 reorganization process, the service provider did not still. Instead, it launched a number of new products, including its Business All-in-One package. Targeted at SMB customers, the VoIP-based service unifies communications services on one common broadband IP connection.
In addition, the service provider's continued build out of its fiber network created a foundation for other business data services such as Routed Network Services and Enhanced IP Data Services in addition to its "Next Generation" IP-based TV service.
Of course, Hawaiian Telcom now has the onus of proving that the reorganized company learned from the mistakes made when the Carlyle Group bought the Hawaiian operations off of Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in 2005, one of many deals Verizon made over the past few years to offload local telephone assets.
For more:
- see the release
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