Core180 is a start-up service provider that’s starting out with a big bang, thanks to a key subcontracting job on a billion-dollar Defense Department contract.

Core180 is the sole subcontractor to Arrowhead Global Solutions on its share of a 10-year, $1.5 billion contract that involves connecting 500 military bases along the East Coast to the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), the Defense Department’s worldwide network.

The contract, dubbed DATS for DISN Access Transport Services, will provide network capacity to support voice, data and video applications. The Defense Department awarded DATS contracts to three companies - Arrowhead, AT&T and Qwest - in October.

Arrowhead will provide access services to military bases in the Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States. AT&T will provide access services to the Midwest, while Qwest will support Western sites.

DATS is the largest contract awarded to Arrowhead, a minority-owned business based in Falls Church, Va. Arrowhead provides satellite and terrestrial networks to government agencies.

Core180 is a two-year-old Hoboken, N.J. provider of network integration services. The company specializes in creating special-purpose, carrier-neutral networks for enterprise and government clients.

The DATS subcontract is a huge win for Core180, which has 20 employees and earned $750,000 in revenue last year. Core180 expects to hire 30 more employees and earn $6 million this year, most of it from the DATS program.

Core180’s other customers include HP and Computer Sciences Corp., but DATS is by far its largest deal.

"We’re getting traction," says David Baule, CEO of Core180. "This is a very large play for us."

For DATS, Core180 will use its proprietary software to create a Layer 2 overlay network on top of circuits provided by various carriers. Core180 will get circuits from local Bell companies, cable companies and CLECs. It will terminate these circuits at carrier-neutral hotels. It will pick the carrier for each route based on price, QoS or diversity.

"With DATS, the Department of Defense is becoming its own carrier," Baule says. "They need to manage their access points like a carrier. We focus on helping them with an aggregation solution. We choose the best carrier by location, by base, by camp, by post, and then we aggregate the circuits at key locations and provide access back to the Defense Department."

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