SBC to compete for federal long-distance

The field of competitors for long-distances services in the government market just got a little more crowded as a unit of SBC Communications Inc. won the right to offer the service to federal agencies.

The General Services Administration granted SBC Global Services Inc. a contract modification known as an FTS 2001 Crossover Modification, the company said today.

San Antonio-based SBC joins Sprint Corp., WorldCom Inc. and AT&T Corp. in offering long distance services to agencies.

AT&T received the modification last year. Sprint and WorldCom were the original winners of the FTS 2001 long-distance contract in 1998.

As part of the GSA's FTS 2001 Crossover Modification, SBC will compete to provide long-distance voice and data services to federal agencies, authorized federal contractors, government sponsored universities and laboratories, state, local and tribal governments, and other organizations on a national basis.

Federal agencies are expected to spend $12.5 billion in 2004 on telecommunications services, according to the market research firm Input Inc, Reston, Va.

SBC was eligible for the modification because it won several Metropolitan Area Acquisition contracts for local phone services in cities such as Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, St. Louis and San Antonio. Among the services SBC can now offer are local and long-distance voice and data services, network management and other professional services.

SBC has about 175,400 employees and annual sales of $40.8 billion. The company was ranked No. 89 on Washington Technology 2003 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue.