The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has selected Level 3 Communicatios to deliver local area network (LAN) managed services for the agency within the National Capital Region (NCR) under the Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS) 3 contract. Specifically, Level 3 will deliver a combination of managed voice, audio and video conferencing, transport, Ethernet and IP within the NCR.
Under the contract, Level 3 will deliver an end-to-end solution for the DHS that will connect nearly 60 DHS sites, including the recently consolidated DHS headquarters at St. Elizabeths. The project includes installation of cabling and equipment, network design, engineering, monitoring and management.
Level 3 said this multi-year, multi-million dollar contract represents a significant shift in how public agencies approach information technology (IT) infrastructure procurement and management, particularly as Network as a Service (NaaS) models gain greater traction to help the government. Level 3 will be one of the first telecommunications providers to deliver a fully outsourced NaaS solution for a federal government agency.
“Today, federal agencies are facing increasing pressure to keep pace with explosive demands for actionable data and remote access to information, while also managing significant budget constraints as a result of sequestration,” said Edward Morche, senior vice president of East Region Enterprise and Government Markets for Level 3 Communications. “This new operating environment is compelling government IT leaders to think differently and seek outsourced solutions, where previously they may have dedicated internal resources to solving problems we address every day at Level 3. We are proud to take a leadership position in providing the level of service, flexibility and experience necessary to meet a broad range of needs for the DHS.”
