MobiTV's sale plan gets some static on eve of auction

A plan to initiate the bidding for the assets of MobiTV, the bankrupt supplier of video software and services, is getting some pushback on the eve of Tuesday's scheduled auction.

Buckeye Cablevision, a MobiTV customer that sells various video, voice and high-speed Internet services under the Buckeye Broadband brand, filed a limited objection linked to the bidding procedures for the sale of substantially all of MobiTV's assets.

Buckeye's concerns are tied to the license it holds for the use of MobiTV's source code; Buckeye uses that code to deliver its video services. Buckeye contends that any buyer of MobiTV's assets should not be granted any right to interfere with Buckeye's existing license, which was set between Buckeye and MobiTV before the vendor's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

"Buckeye does not object to the auction process or procedures and Buckeye only objects to the sale of the Debtors' assets to the extent that the Debtors are seeking to sell the Debtors' intellectual property free and clear of the license Buckeye has in certain source code … or to allow a buyer to interfere with Buckeye's license to use the source code," Buckeye explained in a May 10 filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. That filing references a hearing date of May 21.

MobiTV had no comment on Buckeye's limited objection. However, Buckeye's filing is not expected to hold up the scheduled timing of the MobiTV asset auction, which is currently set to begin on Tuesday (May 11) at 10 a.m. ET.

Ahead of the auction, UK-based Amino Technologies announced itself as one of the bidders for MobiTV's assets. Amino noted that an acquisition of MobiTV's assets must close by May 31, 2021.

MobiTV filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in early March. T-Mobile, which used MobiTV's platform to power its now-defunct TVision OTT-TV service, provided $15.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing to keep MobiTV operating through the bankruptcy process.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading