FTS2001 Transition Comes to an End

Sprint Corp. and WorldCom Inc. have largely completed moving agencies from the old FTS2000 contract for long-distance services to the newer FTS2001 vehicle.

"We probably have several hundred circuits left out of the 60,000 we had left [a few months ago]. We're just folding them into FTS2001," said Tony D'Agata, vice president and general manager for Sprint's government systems division. The FTS2000 contract had been in use for more than a decade.

The physical transition will continue, D'Agata said, but all the federal agencies have been transferred over to FTS2001 rates since May 1.

"All the agencies that we've had contracts with are complete to our knowledge. There might be additional bureaus that an agency realizes it overlooked, but at this time, all the orders we've received have been completed," said WorldCom spokesperson Natasha Haubold. June 6 "was officially our last day. It was D-Day, for 'Done Day.' "

Completing the transition is a cause for celebration at both companies. A General Accounting Office report earlier this year pointed out several problems that had plagued the companies' work, and industry competitors, such as AT&T Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc., had criticized the two companies for transition delays.