Sidgmore: WorldCom Working Hard To Regain Solution Provider Confidence

When asked by CRN what WorldCom is doing to prevent agents and resellers from taking WorldCom customers to other carriers, CEO John Sidgmore said the company is doing everything it can to regain channel confidence.

"We are working directly with customers, and we're working with resellers to make sure we're trying to do everything we can to get their confidence back," Sidgmore said.

One solution provider who contacted WorldCom the day after the carrier revealed it hid $3.8 billion in expenses said he believed WorldCom would pull through this latest fiasco.

"When I hung up with them I felt they had the right people in charge now and the right strategy to get through this," said Mark Spilman, president of Vantanet, a Monsey, N.Y.-based VAR and network services consulting firm.

On a call with the press Tuesday, Sidgmore admitted that bankruptcy was a possibility should bank lenders call or accelerate payments on WorldCom's loans.

"I'm not going to stand up here and say there is no way we'll wind up in bankruptcy in no form at some point, but we are trying to accomplish our goals without bankruptcy," Sidgmore said.

WorldCom has two proposals in hand from banks, but he said that does not mean the terms of the either one will be accepted.

Equipment vendors are also putting the squeeze on WorldCom to pay for products up-front. As a worst-case scenario, if the banks demand payments and if an increasing number of equipment vendors demand payments up front, the need to file for bankruptcy protection becomes real, he said.

When questioned about former CEO Bernard Ebbers' knowledge of inappropriate accounting tactics, Sidgmore said he had no idea if Ebbers was in the know, adding that former CFO Scott Sullivan and David Myers, former senior vice president and controller, were involved.

Sidgmore said his goal moving forward is to streamline the company by getting rid of non-core assets as well as raising capital.

"At the end of the day, the best way to rebuild shareholder value and save this national interest is to have a profitable, but ethical business," Sidgmore said.