MetTel has officially named Diana Gowen, an expert in government communications services, as its new general manager and SVP for its federal program.
A 30-plus year veteran of the telecommunications and networking industry in the federal contracting space, Gowen will oversee significant expansion of MetTel’s Federal Program, which is focused on providing communications solutions to federal agencies. The program will be operated from the company’s Washington, D.C., offices with support positions in all functional areas, including sales, engineering, contracts, proposals and administration.
Gowen comes to MetTel after three years leading her own consulting business. Previously, she led CenturyLink Federal and oversaw the execution and development of CenturyLink’s solutions for federal government customers. She also led Qwest Government Services before it was acquired by CenturyLink in 2011.
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During Gowen’s tenure, Qwest was named as a prime contractor on the GSA Networx Universal and Enterprise contracts administered by the GSA and other government entities. Before joining Qwest in 2005, she was president of government solutions for Corvis and Broadwing Communications.
Earlier, Gowen served as VP MCI Government Markets, where she led the sales and program efforts for federal agencies helping secure 60% of the federal government’s FTS2001 contract expenditures. She was also a key contributor to the development of MCI’s early internet and advanced data networking services.
Gowen also served as an executive at AT&T, where she focused on sales, marketing and product management, including an assignment in Bell Lab’s Venture Technology organization. She has received numerous industry awards, including FierceTelecom’s Women in Wireline in 2015.
Already, Gowen’s influence has been seen at MetTel. She played a key role in getting the service provider a seat on the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract, which replaces the existing 10-year Networx contract. As the follow-on contract to the Networx contract, EIS was issued nearly two years after GSA issued the request for proposals.
“Understanding the needs and nuances of government customers is key to serving them,” Gowen said in a release. “But just as important is making promises you can keep and delivering on them with superior customer service, for which MetTel has set the industry standard.”
In August, MetTel was named along with AT&T, BT, CenturyLink and Verizon as part of a group of 10 companies to win a role in servicing the 15-year GSA EIS contract. Federal agencies currently spend approximately $2 billion per year on network infrastructure, according to the GSA.
Being a competitive player, MetTel is setting itself apart from the pack for government communications by simplifying networking for government agencies. A key element of the service provider’s government play is the EIS Portal, which provides a centralized command and control center for all network operations. It provides a dashboard view of network activities including traffic flow, service orders, expenses, inventory, equipment orders and assets.
Using advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence, this communications platform runs the network, including resource decisions, once initial parameters are set. With the EIS Portal, MetTel can deliver a wide range of solutions and services to Federal agencies, including voice and data, hosting, managed mobility, wireless and network security services.