UPDATE 1/21/2016: Telecom firm netTalk says thousands of Canadians who lost their phone numbers in a dispute with another telecom have regained their service.

"We are very pleased to announce that, effective immediately, all netTALK Canada telephone numbers and services are live and fully functioning," netTalk said in a statement emailed Wednesday night.

The company said it would be in touch with its customers to compensate them for the inconvenience.

Original story follows below.

A billing dispute between two telecom companies has resulted in thousands of Canadians losing their phone numbers, but the companies involved say they are working to return those numbers to their owners.

Customers of phone-service upstart netTalk found that they were unable to receive incoming calls, with callers being told that the number they are calling is “no longer in service.” Customers could still make outbound calls.

Ottawa resident and netTalk customer Sharon Henderson said she discovered she had lost her number on Friday, less than a month after she signed up with the startup phone service that offers 10Gb of data for $40 a month.

“I want consumers to be wary, because they’re still selling” the netTalk service, she said, referring to the fact the company’s website is evidently accepting new customers.

Henderson said it appeared that Florida-based netTalk had removed its Canadian contact information from its site. She is calling on the CRTC, Canada’s telecom regulator, to put pressure on netTalk to resolve the issue and return customers’ phone numbers to them.