Windstream wins seat on GSA's GRITS-II contract

Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) has been awarded a seat on the General Services Administration Region 4 Integrated Telecommunications Services - II (GRITS-II) contract where it will compete with the likes of Level 3 and tw telecom to provide telecom services to federal government agencies in eight Southeastern states.

Typically referred as the "Sunbelt Region," Region 4 includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Similar to the GRITS-I contract, which Windstream won a seat on in 2006, the telco can bid on and provide services, including VoIP, fiber-based services, and data center services, to various agencies such as the Department of Justice/U.S. Attorneys, Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and Social Security offices.

Following the award it won to bid for services on GSA's Region 6 contract last month, Windstream now holds seven local services acquisition (LSA) contracts. Other regions include Region 1 (Northeast), Region 2 (New York and New Jersey), Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic), Region 5 (Great Lakes), Region 6 (Heartland), and Region 9 (California).

While providing next-gen services on the GRITS-II contract is positive for the telco, it comes at a time when the public sector vertical is looking to cut IT service costs.

As reported by the Federal Times in a recent article, federal agencies have been mandated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to cut $7.7 billion from their IT budgets next year and "propose ways to redirect those funds for priority projects."

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Windstream gets seat on GSA's Region 6 contract
Level 3, tw telecom get seats on GSA's GRITS II contract vehicle