Verizon wins $186M postal service network contract

New contract continues around-the-clock network services that began in 1997 under the Managed Network Services award.

Verizon Communications has been named prime contractor on the U.S. Postal Service’s Telecommunications Integrated Postal Services (TIPN) contract, a six-year agreement valued at $186 million.

Under the new award, Verizon will continue to plan, design, install and manage a private, converged Internet protocol communications network based on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) that supports many aspects of the U.S. mail system today and provides a foundation for future technologies, according to a Jan. 11 announcement from the communications company.

Verizon previously provided many of the network services under the company’s Managed Network Services (MNS) contract that established one of the world’s largest private networks for the Postal Service.

Verizon will continue to manage this state-of-the-art network, around-the-clock, 365 days a year, from Verizon’s network operations center in Cary, N.C.

Verizon Communications Inc., of New York, N.Y., ranks No. 18 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.