CenturyLink, Verizon Win Government Contracts

CenturyLink has won a $250 million, multi-year order for the Department of Defense, while Verizon Business will support the Army National Guard with a $28.8 million networking solution.

CenturyLink

CenturyLink (CTL) announced it has won a multi-year task order valued at more than $250 million from the Defense Information Systems Agency/Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DISA/DITCO) to provide private line services for dedicated high-speed connections between military installations. With its nation-wide backbone and private line services from DS-0 through OC-768 CenturyLink will provide the Department of Defense connections dedicated for military use. "CenturyLink will deploy its optical network infrastructure to deliver highly reliable and capable private line services to support the critical and growing needs of our Defense customers," said Diana Gowen, senior vice president and general manager of CenturyLink Government, which is headquartered in Arlington, Va. "CenturyLink's private line services have extensive geographic coverage that will ensure fast, direct, and secure communications between U.S. military bases, posts, camps, and stations."

Providing the private lines to the Department of Defense is transitional, as it migrates to the large Networkx program, the largest global communications contract program ever developed for the federal government.  In March 2011 DISA/DITCO awarded Qwest Communications with a $100 million contract for a multi-year task order for advanced data services. CenturyLink completed the Qwest acquisition in April 2011.

Verizon Business

Verizon Business (VZ) announced that the National Guard Bureau has selected Verizon to upgrade and modernize GuardNet, the guard’s primary communications network. Under a new $28.8 million agreement awarded under U.S. General Services Administration’s Networx Enterprise contract and through DISA, Verizon is migrating GuardNet to Verizon’s secure private Internet Protocol communications network. Used in 54 states and territories across the nation and abroad the new IP backbone will be based on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and will serve learning applications, community outreach initiatives, administrative purposes and facilitating the guard's interaction with the U.S. Department of Defense.

"One of the key strengths of the National Guard is its incredible versatility in mobilizing at a moment’s notice to respond to state or national emergencies such as hurricanes, wildfires or floods in addition to global deployments to protect all Americans," said Susan Zeleniak, group president for Verizon Federal. "As the business of government changes to become more virtual, the National Guard is a great example of a government user relying on a strong network foundation to allow it to operate more efficiently so it can focus on its mission."