March 23, 1999

DR 3300-1

APPENDIX L

LOCAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

1 PURPOSE

This appendix establishes policies and assigns responsibility for the management and use of local telecommunications services within the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

2 BACKGROUND

Public Law 104-106, the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA) effective February 10, 1996, repeals the 1965 Brooks Act. Consequently, regulatory control of telecommunications and the General Services Administration's (GSA's) mandatory oversight role ended August 8, 1996. However GSA has implemented a strategy of the Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) Program to provide local voice and data telecommunications services to meet the needs of its Federal customers. The Local Telecommunications Advisory Committee (LTAC) was established by GSA to address the local services requirements and priorities of the various Federal Government agencies.

 

3 REFERENCES

 Source Publication Title/Subject

Congress Public Law Clinger-Cohen Act (Formerly 104-106 called the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996)

Executive E.O. 13011 Federal Information Office of Technology the President

OMB Local Telecommunications Services Policy

 

4 ABBREVIATIONS

BAC - Billing Account Code

FTS - Federal Technology Service

GSA - General Services Administration

IMC - Interagency Management Council

IT - Information Technology

ITMRA - Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996

LTAC - Local Telecommunications Advisory Council

MAA - Metropolitan Area Acquisition

NFC - National Finance Center

OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer

OMB - Office of Management and Budget

POC - Point of Contact

TCO - Telecommunications Control Officer

TSO - Telecommunications Services and Operations

USDA - United States Department of Agriculture

WITS - Washington Interagency Telecommunications System

 

5 POLICY

Consistent with the Clinger-Cohen Act,and following an integrated planning, budgeting, and evaluation process for the acquisition and utilization of telecommunications resources and services:

a USDA agencies and staff offices shall acquire telecommunications services in a manner that is most cost effective for the government.

b Agencies and staff offices contemplating changing or adding new local telecommunications services shall coordinate with the Office of the Chief Information Officer=s Telecommunications Services and Operations to ensure that their requirements meet the objectives of Appendix G.

c Shared telecommunications services provided through the General Services Administration=s (GSA) Federal Technology Services (FTS) Local Services programs shall be considered as the first source of supply, if available, unless agencies and staff offices can provide cost compelling cases for obtaining local services elsewhere.

d USDA agencies and staff offices shall investigate sharing and optimization of local telecommunications services using the GSA Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) contract within major metropolitan areas.

e Within the Washington D.C. National Capital Region (NCR), the General Services Administration Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS) contract and its follow-on contract WITS2001 are considered mandatory contracts to be used.

This policy applies to locations where existing telecommunications services are changing or new telecommunications services are acquired.

 

6 RESPONSIBILITIES

 a The Office of the Chief Information Officer will:

(1) Establish policy and procedures for the management and cost control of local telecommunications services;

(2) Provide advice and assistance to agencies and staff offices regarding local telecommunications services and facilities;

(3) Serve as liaison for local telecommunications services related activities and interchange between USDA and GSA and the Local Telecommunications Advisory Council (LTAC); and

(4) Manage the WITS program, as it applies to USDA implementation within the Washington D.C. National Capital Region.

b Agencies and Staff Offices will:

(1) Evaluate how telecommunications resources support the business of the organization before making an investment decision;

(2) Document current and future telecommunications resources, assets, and capabilities;

(3) Provide the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) documentation requesting waivers to this policy and obtain approval prior to seeking alternative telecommunications services;

(4) Submit a "Request for Telecommunications Services Change" to the OCIO 90 days prior to changing, terminating, and/or withdrawing from the services provided by the local lead agency and/or GSA shared telecommunications services and facilities. The request shall include rationale and justification and cost/ benefit analysis. The request shall identify the reasons why existing and/or planned consolidated, resource aggregation, and/or resource sharing cannot meet the telecommunications mission requirements;

(5) Appoint a Telecommunications Control Officer (TCO) who will be the POC for agency local voice service requirements. Provide the OCIO with written notice establishing a primary Point-of-Contact (POC) for each local service area other than the TCO. The TCO shall maintain an understanding of how local telecommunications services are currently provided; identifying the local agency designated as the lead agency for that shared resource community; and describing the cost recovery procedure used;

(6) Within the Washington, D.C. National Capital Region, coordinate through the TCO with the OCIO Telecommunications Services and Operations (TSO) for agency WITS telecommunications services;

(7) Establish Billing Account Codes (BAC) for payment of Recurring Lease of Maintenance Charges for Telephone Equipment within the Washington, D.C. NCR. Annually update these accounts, using the Form AD-838, Purchase Order, to document the contract in-accordance-with the NFC Voucher and Invoice Payments Manual Chapter 3, Section 3, Telephones; and

(8) Require the TCO to identify critical circuits within the WITS service area for priority restoration in the event of service disruption.

 

7 FORMS

Submit annually A99" purchase orders for WITS services by using a AD-838, Purchase Order. The completed purchase order will be submitted to the OCIO/TSO, Communications Technology Services Branch.

 

8 DEFINITIONS

a Local Telecommunications Services. Local telecommunications includes any access services which provide, for a recurring fee, electronic connectivity to the public switched network and those support services which provide for the acquisition, operation, and management of attached systems. Access services include local voice and data communications, video-conferencing, cellular and paging services, and those services necessary for efficient operation and management of a telecommuni-cations system. Agency private networks which use or aggregate local access to the public switched network are likewise included.

b Local Telecommunications Advisory Council. The Council chartered and established by the Inter-agency Management Council (IMC) to provide leadership of the local telecommunications services policy implementation as promulgated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and GSA. The LTAC will provide communications channels for agencies to discuss the aggregation of requirements, foster the

sharing of telecommunications expertise, realize economies of scale through competition in the local area, and make better decisions on using their individual and collective telecommunications resources.

c National Capital Region. The NCR includes the District of Columbia, the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince Georges; the Virginia cities of Alexandria, Manassas, Fairfax, and Falls Church; and the Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William.

d Washington Interagency Telecommunications System. The Current Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS) contract signed with Bell Atlantic on January 12, 1989 provides telecommunications services to Federal Agencies in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. WITS provides T1/Primary Rate Interface Trunking, analog and ISDN services through GSA owned Lucent Technologies 5ESS host switches connected together by a Synchronous Optical Network Ring. The current WITS contract is to be replaced with a more robust contract in FY1999 called WITS2001.

e A99" Purchase Order. Each agency is responsible for documenting the WITS contract with the GSA contractor. Under the current WITS contract that contractor is Bell Atlantic. The TSO has established a method that allows agencies to contract directly with Bell Atlantic for Customer Premises Equipment, maintenance, leased and purchase equipment, work done and labor charges within the NCR. The agency prepares a AD-838, Purchase Order with a special code, 99, in the first two positions of the purchase order number. The agency should show its assigned WITS Billing Account Code (BAC) on the AD-838. Bell Atlantic bills monthly against the BAC and the bill is paid through the NFC Telephone System (TELE).