Telecom groups run out of cash

Four local telecommunications companies filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday but expect to continue in business , an attorney for the debtors said Tuesday.

The United States

CommPartners provides wholesale telecommunications services to other carriers around the United States. It also sells telecommunications services to small- and medium-size businesses, according to court papers.

Steven Tackes, a telecommunications lawyer and partner at Kaempfer Crowell Renshaw, said he was not familiar with the company but suggested it could be caught in the grey area between regulated and unregulated telecommunication services.

Vonage, a pure VoIP company, is mostly unregulated, but CommPartners appears to be using VoIP only for some of its businesses, which may subject it to state and federal regulatory oversight, Tackes said.

Maurice Gallagher, chairman and chief executive officer of Allegiant Travel Co., stepped down as chairman of the telecommunications holding company on June 11.

Gallagher was a major investor in MGC Communications, which also did business as Mpower Communications in Las Vegas before it was sold a few years ago. Gallagher held key positions at WestAir and ValuJet, which now is called AirTran Holdings.

However, CommPartners’ telecommunications traffic dropped sharply starting in March as large telecommunications carriers found a way to connect directly with each other and eliminate CommPartners as the middle man, the company said in court papers.

The companies face an array of legal

The companies face an array of legal and regulatory proceedings with other telecommunications companies, including AT&T, in state and federal courts as well as state regulatory bodies.