AT&T gets invite to State Department's Networx party

AT&T Government Solutions can now add another General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Universal contract trophy to its display case as the Department of State awarded the service provider a $45 million managed services contract. Networx Universal is the General Services Administration's contract vehicle that enables AT&T and the two other contract holders (Qwest and Verizon) to offer a broad range of telecom services to federal government agencies.

Under the terms of the eight-year agreement, which includes a two-year base with three two-year options, AT&T Government Solutions will be the sole provider of managed services including Private Line, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), Frame Relay, voice and IP telephony. These services will be deployed at more than 100 State Department locations, supporting systems and applications for 13,000 employees. 

Since GSA approved Networx Universal service providers in 2007, AT&T has won a number of Networx Universal awards including those for the Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security. Despite the progress AT&T and its two fellow Networx Universal contract holders Qwest and Verizon have made with the program, awards have come slowly. During the recent GSA Network Services Conference, GSA officials said that only about 23 percent of the five million services available through the program have transitioned from the former FTS-2001 contract to Networx.

For more:
- see the release here

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