GSA and DISA Reach Milestone in Commercial Satellite Services Partnership
Eight Businesses Awarded Contracts to Support Large-Scale Mission-Critical Service Delivery
WASHINGTON — As part of the Future Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM) Services Acquisition (FCSA) program, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) today announced the award of the Custom Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Solutions (CS2) contract to eight businesses. The federal government increasingly relies on commercial satellite communications to provide essential, secure communications to disaster recovery teams, domestic emergency responders, and the military. Services are also used to support distance learning and remote access to global government networks.
These awards expand the common marketplace for commercial satellite communications services under the Future COMSATCOM Services Acquisition (FCSA) program, by adding additional sources for end-to-end solutions to currently available offerings in transponded capacity (bandwidth), and pre-defined subscription services.
"The FCSA program demonstrates how GSA’s focus on collaboration with our customers has led to a solution that makes it easier and more affordable for federal agencies to get secure satellite services on an as-needed basis. This award expands the options available to federal agencies while reducing government costs,” said GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service Acting Commissioner Mary Davie. “We continue to see the great benefits of combining DISA and GSA acquisition expertise and experience to deliver a lower cost option to federal agencies that need to purchase mission-critical satellite services. “
“A primary objective of the FCSA program is to align DoD and Federal Government mission partner requirements with highly qualified industry suppliers in a manner that combines volume and whole of government needs in remote areas to optimize government leverage with industry. The award of the final FCSA end-to-end service area completes the new business model and positions us to acquire comprehensive, technically superior and cost-effective COMSATCOM services in a more competitive manner for partners,” said DISA vice director RADM David G. Simpson, USN.
CS2 is the second set of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts designed to allow CS2 contract holders to compete for task orders that will provide customized, customer-defined, end-to-end solutions that include satellite bandwidth, teleport access, and network management, the equipment needed for satellite communications, and engineering support such as integration, operations, and maintenance.
The CS2 contracts have five year contract period (three base years with two, one-year option) and ceiling of $2.6 billion. Awards for the companion CS2-SB small business contracts for smaller scale end-to-end solutions and professional satellite support services were made earlier this year.
The GSA and DISA satellite communications partnership for FCSA was formed in August 2009 to provide customers with a single platform for the successful delivery of critical communications services that will result in significant savings for taxpayers.
CS2 awardees are: Americom Government Services, Inc., ARTEL, Inc.; DRS Technical Services, Inc.; Hughes Network Systems, Inc.; Intelsat General Corporation; Segovia, Inc.; Telecommunication Systems, Inc; and Vizada, Inc.
More information, including links to the new CS2 contracts is available at the GSA Satellite Services Web site: www.gsa.gov/satellite.
About the Defense Information Systems Agency
DISA, a Combat Support Agency, provides, operates, and assures command and control, information sharing capabilities, and a globally accessible enterprise information infrastructure in direct support to joint warfighters, National level leaders, and other mission and coalition partners across the full spectrum of operations.
From its Fort Meade, Md., headquarters and through worldwide field commands, DISA provides information technology services that enable our nation's military to accomplish their missions.
Contact us at DISAPAO@disa.mil or 301-225-8100
For more information, visit: http://www.disa.mil/
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