Sprint Nextel snares piece of government contract

Sprint Nextel Corp last week snagged one of the prized contracts in a multibillion-dollar program to modernize the federal government’s telecommunications system. In late March, Sprint Nextel-a perennial government contractor-came up short in the awarding of Networx Universal contracts.
But the outcome was different for the enterprise portion of the contract. The General Services Administration awarded contracts to Sprint Solutions Inc. (Sprint Nextel), AT&T Inc., Level 3 Communications L.L.C., MCI Communications Services (Verizon Communications Inc.) and Qwest Government Services Inc.
Networx Enterprise is designed to provide voice, Internet Protocol, wireless, satellite and IP-centric services to 135 federal agencies.
The value of the combined Universal and Enterprise contracts is estimated at $20 billion, but has a ceiling of $48 billion, over a 10-year period.
“Sprint has built its success on being a telecommunications pioneer in the federal arena, and winning the Networx Enterprise contract, which is aligned with our forward-looking corporate strategy, now validates our continued strong commitment to the federal marketplace,” said Gary Forsee, chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel.