GSA expands local telecom contract program

The General Services Administration awarded two new contracts in Detroit this week, continuing the third phase of a program geared toward saving money on local telecommunications services.

Part of the Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) program, the contracts are for standard voice, switched data and dedicated transmission service and are valued at $23 million over the next eight years. Detroit's contracts went to SBC Global Services and Winstar Communications.

"GSA has the potential to reduce the cost of local communications services to federal government users by more than 51 percent over the eight-year terms of the contracts when compared to currently available prices," said Sandra Bates, commissioner of GSA's Federal Technology Service.

To date, MAA contracts have been awarded in Detroit, San Antonio, Texas, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver, Boston, Albuquerque, N.M., Boise, Idaho, and New Orleans. The Washington, D.C., area contract has been awarded separately.

Awards in Norfolk, Va., and Seattle are also expected during the program's third phase.

At a hearing in June the MAA program came under fire from Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. and other witnesses.

Critics said delays in meeting transition deadlines in most of the cities in which contracts have been awarded will reduce the government's overall savings. Witnesses also criticized GSA for not making the contract management fees it charges agencies more transparent.