Windstream gets seat on GSA's Region 6 contract

Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) has been awarded a spot on the General Services Administration's Region 6 local services acquisition (LSA) contract where it will provide telecom services to federal agencies in four states.

Under the terms of the five-year contract that will run through fiscal year 2016, Windstream will provide services to federal agencies located in the "Heartland Region," which includes Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. This agreement is significant to Windstream as it represents another potential multimillion-dollar opportunity over the life of the contract.  

Similar to the LSA contracts it already holds in the Northeast, New York and New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Great Lakes and California regions, the Heartland Region is in line with the McLeodUSA fiber assets Windstream gained when it acquired PAETEC in 2011.  

With this latest contract, Windstream will be able to compete and provide services to over 60,000 federal employees in over 400 GSA-owned buildings and agencies such as the Dept. of Justice/U.S. Attorneys, Dept. of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Social Security offices.

Federal government agencies that have local offices in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas will be able to access Windstream's service suite including its Allworx phones, IP Simple solution, expansive fiber optic network, and data center services.

"The technology upgrade Windstream is providing will allow the GSA Heartland Region to deliver a unified communications solution consisting of hosted VoIP and data across its four-state region," said Mike Magliato, Windstream's vice president of government solutions.

While Windstream trails AT&T (NYSE: T) or Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in the overall enterprise services space, its acquisition of PAETEC has given it more network tools and expertise like Magliato, who originally ran PAETEC's Intellifiber government services division.

Windstream's overall bet on the larger business segment is coming to fruition. During Q4 2012, the telco reported that data and integrated services revenues in Q4 2012 rose 9.5 percent over Q4 2011 to $398 million. 

For more:
- see the release

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