Northwestel Inc. has dropped a defamation lawsuit against local company Orange Technology, according to publicly available court documents filed on March 1.

On that date, Yukon Supreme Court granted the company an order to dismiss its own action.

On Jan. 14, Northwestel had filed a statement of claim alleging part of an interview Orange Technology director Martin Lehner had given to local CBC radio several months earlier had been libelous.

Lehner was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Both Lehner and Northwestel declined to comment for this story.

In a requisition for order, Northwestel’s lawyer, James Tucker indicated, that “each party affected has consented to the order.”

“The court orders that ... the said dismissal be of the same force and effect as a judgment pronounced after trial of the within action upon its merit,” the order reads.

Northwestel is the sole Internet provider for the territory. It also provides TV and phone services.

Lehner’s Orange Technology offers computer and network support, online security and phone services.

In the lawsuit, Northwestel took issue with several statements Lehner made during a Nov. 20, 2015 interview on CBC’s radio morning program, A New Day.

While talking about the Yukon government’s plan to have a second fibre line to offer more reliable Internet, Lehner commented about what he said were issues with Northwestel’s infrastructure.

Lehner claimed that some of Orange Technology’s clients in McRae experienced daily Internet outages.

“They’ve been told that there’s an issue with some of the infrastructure that delivers Internet in that area and there’s no plans to fix it at all,” the statement of claim reads, quoting Lehner.

Northwestel alleged at the time the statement discredited the company because it suggested it was unresponsive to complaints by its clients.

The statement also damaged its reputation and business, and exposed them to “contempt or ridicule,” Northwestel said.

The company also claimed that the statement exposed them to “possible sanctions by the CRTC,” without elaborating further.

Northwestel was asking Yukon Supreme Court to order Orange to publish an apology on all of its social media pages.

It was also seeking a restraining order to prevent Lehner and Orange from publishing the statement at stake “or any similar libel.”

On Feb. 10, Orange Technology filed its statement of defence and invited media to a press conference about the lawsuit.

“We will be sharing a brief statement, after which time the media will be invited to ask questions,” Lehner wrote in an email.

An hour before the planned Feb. 11 press conference was to start, Lehner cancelled it.

“A development has occurred that requires our attention prior to continuing with a public statement,” Lehner wrote in an email, adding the development had occurred the morning of the press conference.

In its reply to Northwestel, Orange Technology laid out three defences to the allegations.

The statements only referred to the company’s services, and are true, and fall under the defence of fair comment, the company argued.

Canadian courts have established that fair and honest comments on matters of public interest can be libelous without being actionable – meaning they can’t be used as grounds for a defamation lawsuit.