Report: Sixth-largest pager company declares bankruptcy and closes

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2000 | 10:17 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- TSR Wireless, a pager service provider and retailer of wireless devices, has apparently declared bankruptcy and halted business, leaving 2.5 million subscribers in limbo and 1,700 people jobless.

The company, which bills itself as the nation's sixth-largest pager carrier, filed to liquidate its assets under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code, the Record of Hackensack in New Jersey reported Tuesday.

No one at five TSR locations in the Las Vegas area could be reached for comment by telephone this morning.

It wasn't immediately clear where the bankruptcy may have been filed. No TSR filing was recorded Tuesday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, the court closest to TSR's headquarters in Fort Lee, N.J., according to clerks and computer records there.

Efforts to reach the company were not successful. The main number at headquarters rang unanswered, as did calls and e-mails to TSR customer service.

While the bankruptcy will likely disrupt paging service for TSR customers, the wireless network operators who carried TSR's traffic might offer to honor service contracts in a bid to win those customers permanently. In Las Vegas, at least one paging firm offered to assist TSR customers in establishing new service.

The New Jersey newspaper, citing an unidentified finance manager for TSR, reported that TSR Chief Executive Mitch Sacks told workers of the shutdown Monday morning.

According to TSR's Web site, the privately owned company was founded in 1974 and has more than 2.5 million pagers in service and more than 275 stores nationwide.

In addition to paging services, the company sells mobile phone services provided by AT&T and Nextel, as well as a variety of mobile phone models and accessories from various manufacturers.