AT&T Loses Protest

AT&T Corp.'s attempt to overturn the FTS2001 program has been rebuffed by the General Accounting Office.

The federal watchdog agency June 14 dismissed the company's request that the contract be withdrawn and recompeted.

Tania Calhoun, an attorney with the GAO, said the agency found that the company's dispute with the General Services Administration was a matter of contract administration and, therefore, not within the GAO's jurisdiction.

FTS2001 is the GSA's long-distance telecommunications contract, awarded more than two years ago to Sprint Corp. and WorldCom Inc. The eight year contract has an estimated value of $2.3 billion.

AT&T's protest was based on its allegation that GSA had modified the terms of the contract after it was awarded.