Now that the U.S. General Services Administration has announced the three contractors who will compete for business under its $20 billion Networx contract, the contractors will soon begin sparring for 135 agencies’ various communications upgrades.
Arlington-based Qwest Government Solutions, Vienna-based AT&T Government Solutions and New Jersey’s Verizon Business Inc. were announced as the Networx winners last week, shutting out Reston-based Sprint Nextel, an incumbent provider who competed for the contract.
Networx is a two-part contract the government estimates will be worth $20 billion over the next decade, with a cap of $68 billion.
The second phase of the contract, Networx Enterprise, which is focused on emerging technologies, will come in May.
The winning teams will work through June doing compliance testing before agencies can submit requests for work, Qwest Director of Corporate Communications and Government Relations Tom McMahon said.
The biggest agency awards through Networx are expected to come this fall come from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury Department. The expected values of those contracts are unknown.
Sprint Nextel will decide this week, after a debriefing with GSA, whether it will protest the award. A protest could hold up the implementation of Networx, though the government could opt to proceed with the contract under protest, depending on circumstances, FedSources Senior Vice President Ray Bjorklund said.
Sprint will still have the opportunity to obtain business through a bridge contract awarded last year to Sprint for FTS-2001, Networx’s preceding contract.
The contract is for two years, but could last until 2010 if all options are exercised, GSA spokesman Jon Anderson said. Sprint is also is a contender for Networx Enterprise.
Networx Universal accounts for less than 30 percent of the federal business Sprint maintains, spokeswoman Sukhi Sahni said Monday. The company does not expect to see any revenue impact from the loss this year and it expects most agencies to take two to three years to transition to Networx. About 120 customers will continue to use Sprint through the bridge contract, Sahni said.
Since Networx is not a mandatory contract, some government agencies could decide to stick with Sprint Nextel for logistical reasons. But those reasons would have to outweigh the savings the contract provides, Bjorklund said.
