GSA brokers AT&T, IRS deal

The General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service late last week brokered a deal between the Internal Revenue Service and AT&T to ensure that the company will correct problems encountered in switching the Treasury Department's FTS 2000 network traffic from Sprint to AT&T.

John Okay deputy commissioner at FTS said the agreement "spells out a number of steps AT&T will take to correct deficiencies in 800 service quality as well as reporting and trouble-handling procedures." Okay said the agreement will require AT&T to commit the maximum resources necessary until the problems are overcome.

"AT&T needs to step up and do that " Okay said. "We're cautiously optimistic that AT&T has come to realize the extent of customer concerns and has agreed to respond to those concerns."

Okay said the significance of the agreement lies in its explicit definitions of what actions the government expects from AT&T. He said it also represents a "more solid" commitment from the company.

The agreement was signed by GSA acting administrator David Barram. The agreement was faxed to AT&T last Friday for concurrence Okay said.