Lumen again objects to AT&T's DHS data services win
By
Nick Wakeman
The Homeland Security Department's effort to move data services from several old contracts to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions vehicle continues to draw objections from disappointed bidders.
The Homeland Security Department’s effort to transition from several old telecommunications contracts to the massive government-wide Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions vehicle continues to hit snags.
DHS is using several other contracts to acquire core data services -- Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications Systems 3 and local service agreements.
Twice now, DHS has awarded a $306 million task order through EIS to AT&T and the effort has been hit by protests two times.
Round one of protests came from Verizon and Lumen (formerly CenturyLink.) Those objections resulted in DHS taking another look, after which they again picked AT&T.
Only Lumen has protested this time, though it is still possible that Verizon could protest again.
DHS is in a crunch because the current data services contracts are set to expire this year.
Lumen filed its protest Jan. 11 and a decision is expected by April 21. The company is arguing that the evaluation was not conducted properly. If it had been done properly, then Lumen would have won.