GSA #9460

January 23, 1998
Contact: Hap Connors (202) 501-1231
Norman Wear (703) 285-1020

WASHINGTON, DC -- At the Seminole Tribal Council of Florida headquarters in Hollywood, FL, yesterday Chief James Billie signed an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration that is expected to save the Council several hundred thousand dollars per year on its long-distance service.

The agreement, formally known as a Memorandum of Agreement, allows the Seminole Tribal Council's five reservations in Florida access to GSA's FTS2000 service, which provides low cost, integrated long-distance voice, data and video telecommunications services to federal agencies. The service is provided through contracts with AT&T and Sprint costing less than two cents per network minute.

GSA Administrator David J. Barram said, "This agreement provides lower cost, higher quality telecommunications services to the Council. It will bring Internet access to them and open up a range of educational opportunities for Council members, especially the children."

In addition to Chief Billie, U.S. Representative Alcee Hastings and representatives from AT&T, GSA and the Seminole Tribal Council participated in the signing ceremony.

Norman Wear, a GSA Federal Technology Service program analyst, said that the Seminole Nation is the fifteenth Tribal organization and Nation to sign an agreement. There are now 550 Native American Tribal Organizations eligible to participate and benefit from FTS2000 services.