House panel calls hearing: Why is Networx transition late?

The full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing April 29 to examine why the transition to Networx is behind schedule.

Federal agencies were slated to be nearly finishing transferring their major telecommunications from the General Services Administration’s FTS2001 contract to its new Networx contracts by now.

“With as much as 62 percent of the transition incomplete, the federal government is losing approximately $18 million in savings for every month” the transition is delayed, said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the committee's chairman.

FTS2001 bridge contracts will expire this summer. One-year continuity-of-service agreements are scheduled to end in June 2011, and GSA has vowed not to extend them.

The hearing will focus on what is causing the continued delay in the transition to Networx, what steps the federal government has taken to assist and expedite the transition effort, and what problems private telecommunications companies are encountering with the program’s procurement process, among other issues, Edolphus said in a press release.

The hearing is set for 10:00 a.m. Thursday in Room 2154 at the Rayburn House Office Building.

Government witnesses invited to testify include: GSA administrator Martha Johnson, Interior Department Chief Information Officer and Interagency Management Council chairman Sanjeev Bhagowalia.

Networx contract-holder representatives invited to testify include: AT&T Networx program director Jeff Mohan, Level 3 Federal general manager Edward Morche, Qwest Government Services general manager Diana Gowen, Sprint Nextel senior vice president Bill White, and Verizon Federal Group President Susan Zeleniak.