SBC Global Services Inc., the arm of SBC Communications Inc. that serves the federal government, last week got the go-ahead from The U.S. General Services Administration to compete for the long distance services business of federal government agencies.
Of course, SBC is relatively new to the long distance market, having gotten approval to offer such services after meeting the 271 requirements set out in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
The second largest vertical for service providers, Doug Dangremond, vice president of SBC’s Federal Solutions group, tells XCHANGE that the federal government is an estimated $12 billion a year opportunity for service providers, with long distance representing about $1 billion of that.
SBC already provides a variety of metropolitan area and premises-based services to the federal government, although the company would not disclose the dollar amount of that business. SBC’s new long distance contract modification could result in “millions alone” of new business for the RBOC, Dangremond says, noting that SBC’s standing with the federal government allows it to go after a variety of long distance services, including ATM, frame relay and private line. Dangremond adds that Qwest Communications International Inc. is the only other RBOC that has received approval to bid for the federal government’s long distance business.
Dangremond tells XCHANGE that the next big federal government telecom contract – referred to a Networx -- is expected to be awarded by the General Services Administration in 2005. That will be a combination of metropolitan access, premises-based services and long-distance services, he says.
SBC current has eight Metropolitan Area Acquisition (MAA) contracts to serve federal customers in Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and San Antonio. In March 2003, the GSA Connections Contract was awarded to SBC subsidiary SBC DataComm Inc., enabling offers to federal government agencies for premises-based voice, data and networking services.
