News Releases
GSA Selects WinStar Communications Inc. for Baltimore Metro Area Local Telecommunications Services Contract Government Business Estimated to be $320 Million Over 8 Years
GSA #9662
March 28, 2000
Contact: Bill Bearden (202) 501-1231
Washington, DC -- The U.S. General Services Administration today selected WinStar Communications, Inc. to provide local telecommunications services to federal government agencies in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The value of government business is estimated to be $320 million over 8 years - 4 base years plus 4 one-year options.
This award is the latest under the Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) Program, which is managed by GSA's Federal Technology Service (FTS). The contract provides for standard voice service as well as switched data service and dedicated transmission service offerings. The scope of the contract allows for the addition of new and leading edge services as they become available in the commercial marketplace. The Baltimore service area includes the city and county of Baltimore plus the area of Anne Arundel county (District 5) around the Baltimore Washington International Airport.
Additional awards for the metropolitan areas of Miami, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Minneapolis are expected in the near future.
Over the life of the contract, the new local service prices negotiated with WinStar will potentially save the government $68 million when compared to standard business rates and $44 million when compared to rates currently available to the government. This is a saving of approximately 72% over standard business rates and 62% over current government rates. For the core voice service of analog centrex, the offered prices will potentially save the government over $18 million when compared to currently available prices.
The MAA Program was conceived shortly after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to bring to the local service environment the same benefits of competition that have been realized in the long distance market since 1984. Today's award is the fifth since February 2000 and the fourth in the past week.
"Today's contract brings the program totals to 11 contracts awarded to 5 service providers in 8 cities," said Sandra Bates, newly appointed commissioner of GSA's Federal Technology Service. "These contracts will produce significant savings for the American taxpayer immediately, and the savings should be in the hundreds of millions of dollars over the lives of the contracts. This is a gratifying confirmation of the strategic vision of our program."
As part of the its program strategy, FTS has incorporated competition-enhancing terms in its MAA and FTS2001 telecommunications contracts, including price management mechanisms and technology refreshment provisions. These are meant to ensure not only that the prices paid by federal government users remain current with the best available in the marketplace, but that the types of services offered remain current with industry trends as well.
For more MAA program specific information, please refer to the GSA FTS website at www.gsa.gov/MAA, or call the MAA Program Director, Larry Hazzard at (703) 610-2823.
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BACKGROUND ON PREVIOUS MAA AWARDS
To date, MAA contracts have been awarded for the following cities.
New York: May 20,1999 to AT&T - $350 million maximum contract value -- NY MAA service area includes: the five boroughs of New York City; Lower Westchester county, NY; Nassau county, NY; Western Suffolk county, NY; Hudson county, NJ; Southern Bergen county, NJ; Eastern Essex county, NJ; Eastern Union county, NJ; Eastern Passaic county, NJ
Chicago: May 20, 1999 to AT&T - $180 million maximum contract value - Chicago MAA service area includes all sites within the Chicago city limits.
San Francisco: May 20, 1999 to AT&T - $150 million maximum contract value - San Francisco MAA service area includes all sites in the city and county of San Francisco
Buffalo: February 24, 2000 to Bell Atlantic and AT&T - $40 million maximum contract value - Buffalo MAA service area includes Erie county, New York
Cincinnati: March 23, 2000 to WinStar Communications Inc.- $100 million maximum contract value - Cincinnati MAA service area includes Hamilton county, Ohio
Cleveland: March 24, 2000 to Ameritech Corp. and AT&T - $150 million maximum contract value - Cleveland MAA service area includes Cuyahoga county, Ohio
Los Angeles: March 24, 2000 to WinStar Communications and Pacific Bell - $200 million maximum contract value - Los Angeles service area includes the mainland Los Angeles county, California
Additional Information on the Baltimore Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA)
Program Level
Nationwide qualification process that certifies competitive local service providers at the program level to provide a set of standard local services.
Continuous competition introduced throughout the life of the contract with a price management mechanism to ensure timely and continued pricing.
One-stop-shopping local service contract with a broad scope for future local and long distance service integration and other new commercial services. Government customers on par with commercial customers�Government gets access to new services at same pace as commercial marketplace.
Four base years plus four one-year options indefinite delivery/indefinite quantify fixed price contract with flexible provision for agencies' specific requirements.
Significant price reduction due to competition.
Service Level
Comprehensive range of local service offerings including voice services with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) capabilities, Circuit-Switched Data Services, and Dedicated Transmission Services. Additional advanced and emerging services such as Packet Switched, Internet Protocol (IP), Frame Relay (FR), Asynchronous transfer Mode (ATM), Switched Multi-megabit Data Service (SMDS), Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Video Teleconferencing, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Services are in scope for addition when needed.
Feature-rich voice services with many features included as part of basic service package and as options. Services also include provision for National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) capabilities.
No per-minute usage charge for Government-to-Government calls on the contractor's network.
Number portability supported when agencies move to a new service provider.
New services are compatible with existing ISDN equipment with no new equipment costs to agencies.
Detailed pricing by NPA-NXX.
Six flexible service delivery point options that allow agencies to acquire partial or turnkey services.
Flexible solutions for ensuring quality inside wiring and achieving connectivity throughout a building.
Wide range of support services including responsive ordering, billing, network troubleshooting, repair capabilities, infrastructure inventory, etc.
Continuous competition designed to allow agencies to act as "smart shoppers" in a commercial-like marketplace.
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