'The reason we won was a combination of best technical solution, lowest risk for implementation and cost,' Mohan adds. Mohan asserts that AT&T does not have any 'single points of failure' in its network. 'You can have redundancy and reliability on a physical level because you can connect to the network at two different places…It depends on your tolerance for risk and how much you want to spend.' 'It's a lot easier for the agency if they have a single carrier,' Mohan says, adding that having one data network provider eliminates interoperability issues and reduces cost. Mohan said USDA considered the redundancy and reliability of AT&T's network as part of its evaluation criteria. 'We will be connecting all of the sties together and providing…network-based IP VPN and a bunch of security services.'Īlthough many organizations split their data traffic among two carriers for added reliability - a practice dubbed multihoming - USDA has decided to put all of its data traffic on the AT&T backbone network.

'We were a provider for part of the USDA data network, but now we are going to be the provider for all of it,' Mohan said. Now AT&T will carry 100% of USDA's data traffic on its backbone network. 'This is evidence that Networx is continuing to ramp up in terms of agency activity,' Mohan said.ĪT&T is an incumbent on the USDA deal, previously providing around 60% of the agency's data networking services under FTS 2001. Mohan says the USDA will be switched over to AT&T's MPLS network by next summer. 'USDA has extension agents in every county in the United States to oversee whatever agricultural activities happen in that county.They have a lot of different types of network activities.' '`It's one of the largest networks in the federal government from a geographic perspective,' says Jeff Mohan, Executive Director, Networx Program Office for AT&T Government Solutions. Winning the USDA business also is significant for AT&T. That's why USDA finally making an award of its data networking contract is a boon to the Networx program overall. GSA said in June that more than 40% of FTS 2001 circuits had yet to be disconnected. USDA's Office of the CIO said in March that it expects to 'save millions over the next several years by switching all telecommunication services to Networx.'įederal agencies such as the USDA have come under fire on Capitol Hill for being slow at transitioning to the Networx program from FTS 2001. The General Services Administration (GSA), which runs the Networx program, says prices on the Networx contract are anywhere from 5% to 15% less than those available on the predecessor contract, known as FTS 2001. USDA also lost out on the opportunity to save money on its monthly telecom bill over the last two years. 'Provided there were no requirements to reimburse the protester for the legal costs of the protest and that there were no requirements to pay a vendor for a 'bridge' or 'transition' contract, the effort to respond to the protest and then to re-do an award of this nature could cost the government anywhere from $150,000 to $300,000 in additional effort,' says Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president with Federal Sources, a consulting firm.

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