The General Services Administration this week extended the contracts federal agencies depend on for long-distance telephone service.
The 10-year-old FTS 2000 long-distance contracts, which were set to expire Dec. 6, were extended for 12 months with two six-month option periods. AT&T and Sprint hold the contracts.
GSA will award the replacement FTS 2001 long-distance contracts by the end of December. The extension of the current contracts will give agencies and telephone companies time to negotiate deals and prepare for switching to the new contracts, GSA Administrator David Barram said.
Under the FTS 2000 contracts, the government pays 15.9 percent less for long-distance service than commercial customers, according to a recent cost comparison conducted by the Federal Technology Service, the division of GSA that administers the contracts.
The current long-distance contract is mandatory for federal agencies. The new contracts will not be mandatory.
Local phone service contracts for the Washington, D.C. area are expected to be awarded in January, while local service contracts for New York, San Francisco and Chicago will be awarded in the spring. Under the FTS 2001 contracts, local phone companies will be allowed to compete for long-distance services contracts.