The winners of the second portion of the largest government telecom contract in history will be announced Thursday.
The U.S. General Service Administration administers Networx, through which 135 government agencies can purchase telecommunications upgrades. It has a total estimated worth of $20 billion and a ceiling of $68 billion during the next decade.
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The first portion, Networx Universal, which has a ceiling of $48 billion, was awarded March 30 to Arlington-based Qwest Government Solutions, Vienna-based AT&T Government Solutions and New Jersey’s Verizon Business Inc. Reston-based Sprint Nextel was the only unsuccessful bidder.
The four Universal competitors, as well as Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3 Communications, are competing for Networx Enterprise, which focuses on new and emerging technologies and has a $20 billion ceiling.
Any or all of the competitors could be awarded the contract. Government agencies then choose among the winners for specific upgrades, based on their pricing and service offerings. “We’ve put together a proposal we think includes a lot of innovative, secure, leading edge technologies,” said Tom McMahon, Qwest’s director of corporate communications and government relations. Qwest had not competed for any previous major government telecom contracts. McMahon predicted most pricing and service offerings for Enterprise would be similar, and that Qwest would distinguish itself through its customer service.
Despite Sprint’s loss, Tony D’Agata, vice president of Sprint’s federal government business, is confident the company will regain its footing with Enterprise, because Sprint focuses more on next-generation services.
“It aligns quite nicely with our corporate direction,” D’Agnata said.
Since the winners’ pricing systems for Networx Universal became publicly available following the award, Sprint had the opportunity to see how its bid compared to their competitors’, D’Agnata said.
“Although we were a little high on the pricing for Networx Universal overall, I think you will find that in regard to offerings like IP and wireless, we were the low bidder,” he said.
The winners will be announced at 10:30 a.m. today at GSA’s headquarters in Washington.
