AT&T to build VA data network

AT&T Government Solutions will build a data networking solution for the Veterans Affairs Department under a contract worth $120 million.

AT&T will deploy an IP Wide-Area Network that will provide data services to the department's 240,000-plus employees. AT&T's managed, secure Multiprotocol Label Switching-enabled network will give VA the standardized technology infrastructure to support the IP-enabled WAN, company officials said.

The telecommunications company also will manage the data network transition of about 1,300 VA sites nationwide from the AT&T Networx Transition Management Center in Oakton, Va.

As the second-largest Cabinet department, VA is responsible for providing benefits to veterans and their families. It also operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits. About 74.5 million people are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services.

The award was issued under the General Services Administration's Networx Universal contract vehicle, which permits AT&T to provide a full range of communications services to federal agencies.

With the new contract, AT&T has now announced more than $700 million in Networx awards with customers, including the Treasury and Homeland Security departments.

AT&T Government Services is a unit of AT&T Inc. The parent company, based in San Antonio, Texas, ranks No. 38 on Washington Technology's 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.