A consulting firm hired by Hawaiian Telcom to help build its new back-office systems said losses it incurred under the contract are larger than previously thought.

BearingPoint Inc., based in McLean, Va., estimates it lost $113.3 million in 2005 under the contract, up from its previous estimate of a loss of $96 million.

Hawaiian Telcom hired BearingPoint last year to help as it took over Hawai'i's largest telephone network from Verizon Communications. But the transition, which was completed in April, was far from smooth. Some customers complained they were getting double-billed, and many said they had difficulty getting through to service representatives to have billing problems resolved.

Hawaiian Telcom has yet to restore its systems to levels experienced before the transition. Hawaiian Telcom and BearingPoint are currently in talks concerning liability and damages for the problems.

"During these negotiations, we are maintaining all of our options, including disputing the client's claims and asserting our own claims in litigation," BearingPoint said in its annual filing with the government.

The Hawaiian Tel contract is among several problems facing BearingPoint. In a long-overdue earnings announcement released late last month, the company said it lost $721.6 million in 2005, versus a loss of $546.2 million the prior year. Revenue was little changed at about $3.38 billion.

BearingPoint also said its failure to promptly file required financial data to the Securities & Exchange Commission could lead to the initiation of delisting procedures. In addition, BearingPoint said it faced 26.7 percent attrition in its professional ranks in 2005, versus 22 percent attrition in 2004.

According to information technology Web site Techweb, BearingPoint also is facing legal problems that include separate subpoenas issued by a federal grand jury in California, and a U.S. Army request for information on certain activities with the federal government and Department of Defense.

Additionally, the General Services Administration has opted not to extend a BearingPoint ID contract worth up to $104 million.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.