AT&T looks to expand Hawaii work

As homeland security capabilities continue to dominate the requirements

of information technology projects across all levels of government, AT&T

Government Solutions is looking for opportunities at the federal, state

and local levels to provide "comprehensive solutions," according to the

company's president.

Hawaii is a prime example of AT&T's attempts to

broaden its services governmentwide, said Chris Rooney, a former Marine

Corps lieutenant colonel who became president of AT&T Government Solutions

on Feb. 14. Rooney said that he has been working to make sure the company

lives up to its name.

"We want to provide to users more than just connectivity,"

Rooney told Federal Computer Week during a Nov. 19 interview at AFCEA International's

TechNet Asia-Pacific 2002 Conference and Exposition in Honolulu. "We want

to provide a completely integrated solution."

In 1997, the Defense Information Systems Agency awarded the company

the 10-year Hawaii Information Transfer System (HITS), which provides dedicated

telecommunications services to all military bases across the island. AT&T

officials are talking to state officials about extending those capabilities

— through AT&T's own resources — to support state and local homeland

security requirements, Rooney said.

AT&T has about 200 employees dedicated

to HITS work, and Rooney said he views Hawaii as a way to expand the company's

resources in support of Defense Department personnel deployed in the western

Pacific.

Rooney said he would be meeting this week with Hawaii's adjutant

general and lieutenant governor about extending the HITS network capabilities,

as well as working on plans for a separate project that would extend the

company's fiber network to the University of Hawaii, passing through state

office buildings.

"That's critical so the university can have broadband connectivity for

things like research and development," he said.

Elsewhere, AT&T is working with Raytheon Co., DynCorp and other

team members on a solution in response to the Immigration and Naturalization

Service's request for information on an entry/exit system, Rooney said.

He said that AT&T is serving as the prime contractor on that effort,

but serves as a subcontractor on numerous other government programs.