Treasury delays TCE deadline

The Treasury Department has delayed the bidding deadline for its controversial 10-year Treasury Communications Enterprise (TCE) contract until Dec. 1.

Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the department moved the deadline from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1 to “ensure we have received the most complete and comprehensive proposals.”

Treasury sources said “there was no other reason.”

The delay is the latest snag in the saga of the $1 billion contract. In March the Government Accountability Office upheld a protest against Treasury’s decision to award the voice, video and data technology contract to AT&T, forcing Treasury to find another route for awarding the contract.

Although Treasury had told GAO it would drop plans for TCE and use General Services Administration contract vehicles, the department later decided no existing contract would meet Treasury’s communications needs and reopened the bidding process.

Treasury originally scheduled a new bidding deadline for Nov. 17 and decided to allow only companies that had bid previously to join the competition for the contract.