NASA issues $100 million integrated network contract

NASA released on Dec. 11 a request for proposals for integration and management of its local and long-haul voice, video and data networks. It is the second of five contracts that will transform the way the agency manages data and support systems under its $4.5 billion Information Technology Infrastructure Integration Program.

According to the statement of work, the NASA Integrated Communications Services contract, worth $100 million, will help the agency develop a long-term arrangement with the commercial sector to provide and manage most of its communications infrastructure.

The winning contractor will manage local area networks and provide telephone, radio and cable television service at NASA headquarters and 15 other facilities, including the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Texas.

As NASA acquires long-haul communications services from the General Services Administration's governmentwide Networx contract, the agency will depend on the NICS contractor to integrate local and long-haul systems into a seamless, end-to-end network.

NASA awarded to Qwest a 10-year, $14.2 million broadband backbone contract in August 2009, and a nine year, $18 million voice and data contract in October 2008, both through Networx. In January 2009, Verizon Business won a NASA Networx teleconferencing contract valued at $108 million over eight years.

Vajira Ranaviraja, an analyst with INPUT, a federal IT consulting firm based in Reston, Va., said he expected all the major telecommunications carriers to bid on the NICS contract.

On Dec. 8, NASA released procurement details for its $80 million Web Enterprises Services and Technology Contract. The Enterprise Applications Service Technologies contract, worth $100 million, is expected to be released on Dec. 18. Next year, officials plan to release solicitations for the $2.5 billion Agency Consolidated End-User Services contract to buy desktops, cell phones and e-mail systems, and the $1.5 billion NASA Enterprise Data Center contract for data management and storage.