AT&T Government Solutions Wins $29 Million Task Order From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

OAKTON, Va., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Government Solutions business unit announced it has won a task order worth approximately $29 million, if all options are exercised, to deploy a Wide Area Network (WAN) solution for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WAN 2010 Project as the primary provider of communications services to the agency. AT&T will also provide Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Services (MTIPS) to enhance the security of the EPA network.

The task order was awarded under the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Enterprise contract vehicle.

The EPA has more than 17,000 employees, more than half of whom are engineers, scientists, and policy analysts, located throughout the Washington, D.C., headquarters, 10 regional offices, and 27 laboratories. The EPA leads the nation's environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts and is entrusted with the mission of protecting and safeguarding human health and the environment.

Under the terms of the task order, AT&T will leverage its transition planning and network management services to deploy a converged, managed IP network solution that will enable the EPA to transform and modernize its WAN architecture. AT&T will be responsible for ownership, management, and maintenance of the EPA WAN 2010 Project.

AT&T will use MTIPS to secure the EPA's Internet traffic with services such as Intrusion Detection Services, Intrusion Protection Services, Incident Response, Managed Firewall Services, and Anti-Virus Management.

MTIPS is an offering under the Networx Enterprise contract that allows federal agencies to order IP services that comply with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum 08-05. The OMB action calls for implementation of the Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) mandate, which requires agencies to reduce the number of connections to the public Internet and provide secure IP portals for agency traffic to and from the public Internet. AT&T's MTIPS Certification & Accreditation (C&A) documentation conforms to the GSA's requirements for the MTIPS product and is an approved service offering under the Networx contracts.

"The EPA needs an approach to security that not only enables the agency to exchange data in a secure fashion, but also stops threats before they make it to the front door," said Don Herring, Senior Vice President, AT&T Government Solutions, AT&T Global Services. "This new singular, converged IP network infrastructure for the EPA will not only deliver enhanced security and increased capacity, but also provide a solid, flexible, and scalable technological platform for expanding bandwidth and applications as the EPA's needs evolve in the future."

The foundation for the AT&T WAN solution is the state-of-the-art AT&T Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-enabled network, a fully managed, highly secure, scalable data network, which enables customers to incorporate leading edge applications on the network. This powerful foundation provides the secure, reliable VPN network best suited to support EPA needs for an IP-converged network connecting EPA's sites nationwide.

With the new architecture and inclusion of MTIPS, the EPA will improve its ability to securely share environmental information between its many nationwide offices and stakeholders, including businesses, state and local government partners, and public citizens.

AT&T will also provide Managed Network services such as Project Management Office (PMO), operations, site deployment, network engineering and design, on-site installation, maintenance, training and proactive network management and reporting. AT&T will deliver these services at EPA locations supporting systems and applications for the EPA workforce.

AT&T has serviced the communications needs of the EPA for several years, providing mission-critical communications services that include private line services, local exchange services, Internet and Mobility/Wireless services via GSA's Federal Telecommunications Service 2001 (FTS2001) Crossover contract, and other vehicles.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also provided AT&T with formal notification indicating AT&T's MTIPS solution meets all DHS requirements for operation of a Trusted Internet Connections Access Provider, certifying the company's TIC/MTIPS solution is fully compliant with OMB's TIC requirements.

The EPA task order has a term of seven years, which includes a one-year base with six one-year options.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T Government Solutions

AT&T Government Solutions is a long-standing, trusted source of network-enabled solutions for the federal government, integrating unmatched network resources and IT and software engineering expertise with innovative technologies from AT&T Labs and industry-leading partners. With headquarters in Oakton, Va., AT&T Government Solutions is best known for network leadership in voice, data, video and managed services. AT&T Government Solutions is a proven solutions integrator, with expertise in areas such as Information Assurance, Network Solutions, Application Solutions and Mission Support.

About AT&T

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