GSA #10060
January 9, 2004
Contact: Mary Alice Johnson (202) 501-1231
maryalice.johnson@gsa.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced that it has exercised the second one-year option of the FTS2001 contract with MCI WorldCom Communications Inc.   

This action has been taken by the GSA Federal Technology Service (FTS) contracting office in accordance with the terms of the FTS2001 contract and pursuant to appropriate Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), specifically FAR 17.207, which governs the requirements for exercising contract options.  As part of GSA's FTS2001 contract, MCI WorldCom, the government market subsidiary of WorldCom, Inc., will continue to provide contract services necessary for the government to satisfy its telecommunications needs, including mission-critical requirements.

Awarded on January 11, 1999, the initial contract term of four years had been renewed to cover the period of January 11, 2003, through January 10, 2004 and has now been renewed to cover the period of January 11, 2004 through January 10, 2005.

In deciding to exercise the second contract option, GSA indicated that MCI WorldCom's performance exceeded that required of it under the terms of the FTS2001 contract. Moreover, the company’s pricing remained very attractive when compared with other similarly situated vendors. Accordingly, GSA has concluded that exercising the MCI WorldCom option provided best value for the taxpayers.

MCI WorldCom currently provides telecommunications services to some of the larger organizations in the federal government, including the Departments of Defense, Interior, Commerce (including the U.S. Weather Service hotline), Health and Human Services and Transportation. The contract also includes service to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Social Security Administration (including its hotline service) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

GSA is a centralized federal procurement, property management, and policy agency created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help federal agencies better serve the public. It acquires, on behalf of federal agencies, office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. It also plays a key role in developing and implementing governmentwide policies. GSA, comprised of 13,000 associates, provides services and solutions for the office operations of over 1 million federal workers located in more than 8,000 government-owned and leased buildings in 2,000 U.S. communities.