Networx: nail-biting time for carriers

A major weapon system program like the Joint Strike Fighter is a good analogy for Networx.

Around the Washington D.C. Beltway, all eyes in the network industry are on a big prize: a 10 year, $20 billion telecommunications services deal that the U.S. federal government is expected to award as early as next week.

Called Networx, the deal is the largest pending network buy in the world.

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Around the Washington D.C. Beltway, all eyes in the network industry are on a big prize: a 10 year, $20 billion telecommunications services deal that the U.S. federal government is expected to award as early as next week.

Called Networx, the deal is the largest pending network buy in the world.

Read an FAQ on the background of Networx, plus a timeline for the project.

All the top-tier U.S. carriers – AT&T, Qwest, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Business – are bidding on it.

Networx will provide domestic and international voice, data, video and wireless services to federal agencies for the next decade.

Officials at the General Services Administration (GSA) say they will award the biggest component of Networx – called Networx Universal – by the end of March.

Telecom industry executives and employees in the Washington, D.C. area are awaiting an announcement of the Networx Universal award, as are the CEOs of the carriers bidding on the deal.

"Networx affects a lot of companies around the Beltway and around the country," says Don Herring, president of AT&T Government Solutions. "There’s starting to be more and more talk around town about when it’s going to be awarded. Everyone’s paying attention."

"We’re all a little anxious, but it will be an important contract for us to win," says Tony D’Agata, vice president of federal government operations at Sprint Nextel. "It’s been such a long ordeal. We’ve been working on this for two to three years. It’s all kind of a blur."

Industry watchers say Networx is as significant to the telecom industry as a military fighter plane project is to the defense industry.

"For those vendors that have bid on Networx, the interest is very high," says Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president with FedSources, a market research firm. "It takes millions of dollars, dozens and dozens of people, and lots of time to put in a bid. A major weapon system program like the Joint Strike Fighter is a good analogy for Networx."

Federal telecom managers also are awaiting word of the Networx Universal award. Many agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Treasury have delayed network upgrades until Networx is awarded.

"They want to see Networx happen because it will give them more diversity in the offerings," Bjorklund says. With 50 telecom services offered on Networx, they’ll "be able to use one contract vehicle and get a turnkey solution."

In the meantime, carriers and their teammates have hundreds of employees working on last-minute details of the Networx bids, which were more than 5,000-pages long and featured more than seven million individual prices.