AT&T, WinStar Take Philadelphia MAA Contracts

AT&T Corp. and WinStar Communications Inc., both of New York, won the local telecommunications services contract for federal agencies in Philadelphia as part of the Metropolitan Area Acquisition program. The combined value for the contracts is estimated to be $296 million over eight years.

The contract covers the counties of Philadelphia and Delaware (located in Pennsylvania) and the cities of Camden and Trenton in New Jersey.

The Philadelphia MAA contracts are predicted by the General Services Administration to potentially save the government over $80 million compared to standard business rates, and close to $66 million compared to rates currently available to the government.

The award of these MAA contracts in Philadelphia brings the number of cities served by the program to 20, and completes the second phase of the program. The third phase, procurements for seven additional cities, is now underway.

"All told, the contracts awarded in the 20 MAA cities to date have the potential to save federal government telecommunications users over $1 billion compared to current costs," said Sandra Bates, commissioner of the Federal Technology Service, GSA.