VZB Awarded WITS Contract

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- The U.S. General Services Administration Thursday (Nov.8) selected Verizon Business as one of the companies to be awarded the Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS 3) contract under which Washington D.C.-area federal government agencies can obtain a broad array of local telecommunications services and products.

The WITS 3 contract, which includes a four-year term with four one-year optional extensions, is valued at as much as $1.8 billion if all extension options are exercised. The WITS 3 contract covers local telecommunications services and products for federal agencies in the National Capital Region (NCR), which includes Washington and portions of its Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Verizon Business holds the existing WITS2001 contract, which it was awarded in 2000 and expires in January 2008. As a WITS 3 contract holder, Verizon Business is authorized to compete for business from individual agencies.

Verizon Business earlier this year was named a prime contractor under the federal government's Networx Universal and Networx Enterprise contracts, authorizing the company to compete for long distance, Internet, cellular and other communications business from individual government agencies. The Networx program is among the largest federal communication contracts in history.

"WITS 3 complements the federal government's wider Networx program by providing a variety of local voice and data options that meet the special requirements of the Capital region,'' said Susan Zeleniak, vice president of federal markets for Verizon Business. "As the leading communications provider to the federal government, we look forward to working with Capital-area agencies as they ready their plans to transition to both WITS 3 and Networx and advance their operations with the next generation of advanced communications and IP-based products and services."

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