AT&T wins IRS network job

AT&T Corp. won a five-year, $54 million contract from the Internal Revenue Service to build a network that will integrate communications technology at agency sites nationwide, the company said today.

The network, called the Enterprise Remote Access Project, will connect IRS offices and audit sites to applications and resources in centralized IRS data centers. It is based on a fully managed virtual private network solution that will replace existing hardware and software platforms.

The network also will provide high-speed access to more than 50,000 traveling and remote IRS auditors, giving them secure access to the agency's resources through various means, such as cable and digital subscriber line connections.

IRS employees "handle incredibly sensitive financial information that touches virtually every American, so AT&T's ability to deliver a highly secure network integration solution was key to this win," said Lou Addeo, president of AT&T Government Solutions of Vienna, Va., the telecom giant's division that was awarded the contract.

AT&T Corp. of Bedminster, N.J., ranks No. 20 on Washington Technology's 2004 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors. It employs 72,000 workers and had revenue of $34.5 billion in 2003.