GSA is halfway done with local telecom contracts

More than half of the government's contracts designed to save money on local telecommunications services have been awarded, the General Services Administration has announced.

Recently awarded contracts in Indianapolis and St. Louis bring the total number of cities served by GSA's Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) program, in which the government harnesses its bulk buying power to extract the lowest rates from telecommunications companies, to 12. Service under the contracts is already underway in eight cities.

"We have now made more than half of the MAA awards we expect to make this fiscal year," said Sandy Bates, commissioner of GSA's Federal Technology Service. "The contracts continue to reflect the aggressive competition and significant taxpayer savings that were our program goals."

GSA announced last Thursday the selection of WinStar Communications Inc., AT&T and SBC Global Services to provide services to federal agencies in Indianapolis. WinStar Communications, Inc. and Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. were selected to provide services in St. Louis. On Wednesday, the agency announced that the cities of Atlanta and Miami would receive service from Winstar and Bell South.

The contracts are valued at $520 million over eight years in Atlanta, and $140 million over eight years in each of the St. Louis and Miami markets. Indianapolis' contracts are worth $240 million, also over 8 years.

Standard voice, switched data and dedicated transmission service are included in the contracts. Contracts in each of the four newest cities netted savings of more than 50 percent over current government rates.

To date, contracts have been awarded in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, Indianapolis and St. Louis. The Washington area contract has also been awarded under a separate effort.