GSA awards contracts for wireless expense management

The General Services Administration on Jan. 15 awarded contracts to three vendors to help agencies manage their wireless devices,  and possibly save money by avoiding unnecessary fees for devices.

Under the Telecommunications Expense Management program, Booz Allen Hamilton, iSYS and Avalon Technologies will help agencies review their wireless device inventories and calling plans and find ways to pool their minutes and take other steps to reduce their costs.

The goal is to create a consistent cost structure for the services. Most agencies have left it up to individual organizations or program offices to run their own procurements, so different offices end up paying different amounts for the same services, GSA said. GSA believes the contracts, part of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative, will help agencies save millions of dollars. 

This is the same approach the federal government has taken with office supplies and domestic delivery services. All together the contracts are worth an estimated $93 million over two base years and three one-year options, according to GSA.

GSA and the Treasury Department work together on the governmentwide initiative with more than 50 military and civilian agencies participating in the program.

“Cross-government collaboration was instrumental in our collective success to award these contracts,” said Jim Williams, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service commissioner.

Williams said the contracts show that the government can streamline and efficiently combine requirements to ultimately leverage the government’s buying power.

“GSA’s procurement process and resulting sourcing initiatives are bringing industry best practices to government, providing taxpayers with the best value for their money,” he said.