UPDATED: Verizon signs FTS 2001 extension
The contract will bridge the expiring contract to the new Networx pact, which has not yet been awarded.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:45 p.m. July 26, 2006, to correct that GSA expects to award Networx later this year or early next year.
Verizon Business has signed a two-year extension to its FTS 2001 contract, intended to allow the company to continue to provide services to agencies while the new Networx vehicle is being put into place.
Verizon's FTS 2001 agreement expires Jan. 10, 2007, according to the company. The General Services Administration plans to award Networx, the governmentwide contract intended to take over from FTS 2001, later this year or in early 2007. Agencies will then need some time to make the transition from their older contracts to the new one.
The bridge contract will run from Jan. 11, 2007, through Jan. 10, 2009, with the option to extend it for three additional six-month periods. Verizon Business will continue to offer, at current rates, the telecommunications services it has been providing under the existing FTS2001 contract.
In addition, Verizon Business will offer new advanced services, including secure remote communications services for teleworkers and enhanced hosting services for content delivery.
“We have watched the government’s communications demands develop over the years, and this contract allows for the continued evolution of those services before the move to Networx,” said Jerry Edgerton, group president at Verizon Federal, a sales organization of Verizon Business.
"Verizon Business has earned its position as one of the top communications providers to the federal government through our continued investment in our networks and our tireless commitment to our customers’ needs," he said.
MCI, which became part of Verizon in a 2005 merger, was one of two companies originally awarded the FTS 2001 contracts. MCI's came in January 1999.