Lumen Technologies and Verizon scored some major U.S. government contract wins this month, bagging over $1.52 billion worth of contracts with different Department of Defense agencies. But it appears Verizon is looking to spoil Lumen’s big victory.
Earlier this month, Lumen snagged a $1.5 billion contract to provide Indo-Pacific transport services for the Defense Information Systems Agency. The contract carries a 10-year term, running from August 21, 2022 to August 30, 2032.
However, shortly after the award was announced, Verizon filed a challenge with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Such challenges, known as bid protests, contest either the award of a contract or the terms of solicitation associated with the contract. After reviewing the protest, the GAO can choose to dismiss it if it finds a technical or procedural flaw in the filing or takes corrective action, or deny it if it finds the challenge to be without merit. It can also sustain a challenge if it agrees with the protest.
The GAO has 100 calendar days to issue its decision. In Lumen’s case, that means a ruling will be handed down by November 18, 2022. Verizon declined to comment on why it filed the challenge.
On its recent Q2 earnings call, Lumen CEO Jeff Storey touted the company as a “share taker in the government” segment. He specifically pointed to recent contract wins with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Customers and Border Protection agency and U.S. Postal Service as examples of deals where “we took share from somebody because those are not new deals themselves.”
“So I feel very good about our government business,” he concluded.
Separately, this week the Navy handed Verizon a $28.3 million contract to provide Naval computer and telecommunications services – including voice and data – to central office facilities in Philadelphia and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The award includes a five-year base period starting in October 2022 with an optional six month add on. If the latter option is exercised, the contract value will rise to $31.7 million.
Earlier this year, the operator secured a $400 million contract to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation modernize its IT infrastructure and a trio of task orders from the Department of Defense totaling $966.5 million to upgrade network infrastructure for various entities.