GSA awards hefty regional telecom deal

The General Services Administration announced on Thursday that it has awarded a seven-year, $150 million telecommunications contract for its Mid-Atlantic Region to four companies. The agreement will allow federal agencies in rural and suburban areas to take advantage of competitive pricing instead of going it alone.

GSA's Federal Acquisition Service signed business deals with AT&T Government Solutions, Cavalier Telephone, Cox Communications and Verizon Business.

The awards are indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts with a three-year base period and four one-year options. Vendors will offer an array of telecom services including voice and data services as well as high-speed Internet access and other online services.

The new agreements cover Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia, and replace metropolitan area contracts that are expiring in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Norfolk, Va. Under the previous contracts, only customer agencies in those metro areas could take advantage of GSA's competitive pricing; the new contracts allow agencies in surrounding areas to use those vehicles.

"If you weren't in a city, you couldn't buy services under GSA's metropolitan area acquisition contracts," said Joe Caulfield, GSA's Mid-Atlantic local service contracting officer. The new contracts will cover 90 percent of the Mid-Atlantic Region, he said.

"It's a big opportunity to offer them already competed contracts," said Susan Labman, director of network services for the Mid-Atlantic Region. "Traditionally, we've only been able to offer services in major city areas. Now if there are military installations or other facilities outside of a downtown area, we will be able to offer them services."

The Veterans Affairs Department, Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service and military bases are among the federal customers in small towns and rural areas. Labman expects military bases to make up a large portion of the business.

Caulfield said agencies in the Mid-Atlantic Region would look to purchase both digital and analog phone services, as well as T1 and T3 Internet connections. Susan Zeleniak, group president of Verizon Federal, said she expects agencies to purchase Voice over Internet Protocol and other Internet-based services.

"It's a great move by the government toward IP-based services. VoIP is the biggest difference; agencies will start to take advantage of that technology when they move toward the future. This is a great opportunity to do that," she said.

Zeleniak also expects agencies to take advantage of vendors' professional services, such as consulting, engineering, help desk and other support functions.

"They will call on us for our expertise to manage these newer technologies, which take a little more skill and knowledge, as they are more complex," Zeleniak said. She added that onsite program management and engineering services also would be popular among agencies installing newer, IP-based voice services.

GSA is developing a transition plan and moving customers from the expiring contracts to the new vehicles, and Labman said the agency is ready to handle incoming inquiries. Zeleniak said her company already has reached out to customers and received inquiries about the new services offered.

"We expect implementation to be immediate," she said.