Four Companies Net Boston MAA Deals

By Jennifer Freer, Staff Writer


AUG. 2 ? The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service has awarded Metropolitan Area Acquisition contracts to four more companies.


The latest winners, announced July 31 for the Boston region, are AT&T Corp. of Basking Ridge, N.J.; Bell Atlantic Corp. of New York; Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. of San Antonio; and Winstar Communications Inc. of New York.


An MAA is the GSA's local telecommunications contract program, managed by the Federal Technology Service. The Boston contract is estimated at a combined $270 million. The contract spans eight years ? four base years plus four one-year options ? with the MAA providing local telecommunications, voice, data and dedicated transmission services to federal agencies.


Winstar and AT&T have won the most MAA contracts to date. Winstar's total of 11 is valued at a potential $1.3 billion, and AT&T's nine is worth potentially $1.2 billion.


The number of metropolitan areas receiving MAA awards is at 16, with the amount of the awards now topping $3 billion. The initial MAAs were made in May 1999 to AT&T for Chicago, New York and San Francisco.


Just four cities are left to receive MAA awards over the next few months: Albuquerque, N.M.; Boise, Idaho; New Orleans; and Philadelphia.