Mitel will consider a lawsuit against the City of Ottawa after a committee voted Tuesday to proceed with a $7-million telephone contract with Bell and Cisco.
The high-tech firm lost the bid even though the company submitted the lowest price to replace the city's dated telephone system with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.
City council is scheduled to hold a final vote on the contract on Wednesday.
Mitel Chief Executive Officer Don Smith was at City Hall to voice his company's concerns on Tuesday. Smith and Mitel co-founder Terry Mathews have both publicly charged that the city's procurement process is flawed.
Smith said Mitel was not treated fairly during the procurement process and maintains he's not trying to get any special treatment for his company.
A city report released in early June recommended the city proceed with a joint bid from Bell Canada and Cisco Systems for a large Internet phone contract.
