Author Archive
Digital Government
In for the long haul
Pete Fridman, a telecommunications manager at the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service, had been at the forefront of federal telecom long before the word 'competition' entered the vocabulary of those buying phone service. Fridman was involved in the evaluation of GSA's FTS 2
Digital Government
FTS 2001 snafus irk agencies
About nine months after the General Services Administration awarded the final contract for the FTS 2001 telecommunications program, the highly anticipated transition to the nextgeneration longdistance network has been hampered by excessive bureaucracy, limited vendor staff and procrastination by
Digital Government
FGIPC looks for change
James Buckner, president of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils, said a FGIPC task force this month began work on a project to determine how the organization can change to improve the way it achieves its goals, particularly in the area of IT education. 'I don't see any broa
Digital Government
GSA to add telecom to multiple-award sked
The General Services Administration plans to expand the multipleaward schedule (MAS) program to offer more telecommunications services by including voice, video and data teleconferencing services. GSA's Federal Supply Service last week issued a notice asking vendors to comment on the agency's plan
Digital Government
Payne leads fed Qwest
The resignation last week of Jim Payne from his job as Sprint's assistant vice president for FTS 2001 and his reemergence as chief of the federal division at Qwest Communications International Inc. signals the beginning of a significant change in the federal telecommunications market, observers sa
Digital Government
Cold War certificates available via Web
Anyone who served the government in the armed forces or as a federal civilian employee between Sept. 2, 1945, and Dec. 26, 1991, is eligible for a Cold War Recognition Certificate, which is available via an Army World Wide Web site. The certificate reads: 'In recognition of your service during
Digital Government
Sprint's Payne resigns
Jim Payne, former assistant vice president for FTS 2001 at Sprint Government Systems Division, today resigned from the company to pursue a job at another telecommunications firm.
Digital Government
SSA taps MCI WorldCom for telecom services
The Social Security Administration last week announced that it had selected MCI WorldCom to provide its voice, data, Internet and conferencing services through the General Services Administration's FTS 2001 network. MCI estimated the eightyear deal to be worth $250 million. SSA is the ninth major
Digital Government
Keeping the lines open
Bob Bubniak, associate deputy assistant secretary for telecommunications at the Department of Veterans Affairs, acquired a profound understanding of the importance of telecom early in his career. As a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps, Bubniak found himself deployed to Germany in 1961 ju
Digital Government
Social Security Administration chooses MCI for FTS 2001 service
The Social Security Administration today announced it has selected MCI WorldCom to provide its voice, data, Internet and conferencing services through the General Services Administration's FTS 2001 network. MCI estimated the eightyear deal to be worth $250 million.
Digital Government
Telecom war brews in federal market
It appears the federal government will serve as the battleground for a disagreement between competitive telecommunications companies, which want unencumbered access to offer their services in all office buildings, and the landlords who believe the companies should have to pay for such privileges. A
Featured eBooks
Digital Government
Cellular to come to schedule
After years of avoiding competition with its sister organization, the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service announced that it plans to modify the multipleaward schedule program this week to include cellular and paging services. The announcement marks the first time FSS has offer
Digital Government
GSA adds cellular, paging services to IT sked
The General Services Administration announced yesterday it is adding cellular and paging services to the Federal Supply Service's information technology schedule.
Digital Government
GSA preps three new business lines
The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service is gearing up to enter three new business areas, selling agencies technology tools for distance learning, call centers and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Marcella Banks, FTS' assistant regional administrator in GSA's Fort Worth,
Digital Government
OPM proposes Y2K leave carry-over law
The Office of Personnel Management has proposed a rule that will make it easier for federal managers to restore leave forfeited by personnel working on the Year 2000 problem. Although federal employees are allowed to carry over no more than 240 hours of annual leave to the next year, the law stipul
Digital Government
DOD begins FTS 2001 switch
The Defense Department last month made the government's first significant transition to FTS 2001 when it moved 8,500 users in the Washington, D.C., area off AT?#038; Amp;T's FTS 2000 network. MCI WorldCom will handle all of DOD's FTS 2001 voice traffic, and Sprint will carry the department's FTS 2001 framer
Digital Government
General Dynamics snaps up GTE government units
General Dynamics Corp. announced today it will buy three of GTE Corp.'s government systems organizations for $1.05 billion.
Digital Government
GSA: Agencies will pay for late telecom switch
General Services Administration officials warned that agencies that are late in transitioning to the new FTS 2001 longdistance network will have to pay the government's excess costs of providing duplicative telecommunications services to FTS 2001 users and to those who have not completed the transition.
Digital Government
Telecom next wave in outsourcing
Network management, which most federal agencies have handled with inhouse resources, may be the next candidate for largescale outsourcing as a number of agencies have confirmed they are considering turning the job over to telecommunications carriers. Departments with huge telecommunications infra
Digital Government