Arizona to outsource telecom services in 2004

The state of Arizona plans to release a request for proposal this October to outsource its telecommunications services to a private company.

Based on current expenditures, the five-year contract is estimated to be worth more than $50 million, state officials told Washington Technology. The state will award the contract in February 2004.

The RFP calls for the outsourcing of the Arizona Telecommunication System voice and data networks. The winning contractor will manage the system's fiber ring in the Phoenix Capitol Mall, the core network in the Tucson satellite "campus," the network infrastructure connecting state offices in Phoenix and Tucson and other data lines throughout the state.

All responses to the RFP should include the use of existing network equipment and provide for a scaleable, statewide converged voice, data and video network that can adequately support the state's future business needs, state officials said.

The RFP also should allow the state to add additional customers, locations and services during the course of the contract to build a statewide converged network, they said.

Further details, as they become available, will be posted on the Arizona Government Information Technology Agency Web site at http://gita.state.az.us/telecom.