DOD awards MCI WorldCom with wideband contract
The Defense Department has awarded MCI WorldCom Inc. a contract worth up to $2 billion to provide wideband telecommunications services to U.S. forces based throughout the Pacific and Asia.
LONDON—The Defense Department has awarded MCI WorldCom Inc. a contract worth up to $2 billion to provide wideband telecommunications services to U.S. forces based throughout the Pacific and Asia.
MCI WorldCom will develop the Defense Information Systems Network Transmission Services-Pacific (DTS-P), which will become a key high-tech component of the globe-girdling Defense Information Systems Network. DISN serves as the central nervous system for U.S. armed forces worldwide.
The Defense Information Systems Agency gave MCI WorldCom Government Markets the award late yesterday, according to Diana Gowen, vice president of the division. Gowen, interviewed at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association European symposium and conference here, said the DTS-P contract "will get us back into the transmission business'' with DOD. MCI provides bandwidth manager services for DOD on its domestic long-haul network, with AT& T providing the circuits and bandwidth.
Sprint was the only other final bidder on the DTS-P contract. AT& T dropped out of the competition last year.