U.S. Postal Service Selects Verizon as a Prime Contractor to Help Manage Advanced Communications Platform

ASHBURN, Va., Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Every day, the United States Postal Service delivers 584 million pieces of mail to more than 150 million addresses and receives more than a million visitors to its website.  As a result, the Postal Service needs a communications platform unrivaled in both sophistication and reliability -- and that is what Verizon is delivering. 

The Postal Service has selected Verizon as a prime contractor in the Postal Service's Telecommunications Integrated Postal Services (TIPN) contract.   Under a six-year agreement that is valued at as much as $186 million and extends a long-standing relationship between Verizon and the Post Service, Verizon will continue to plan, design, install and manage a private, converged Internet protocol communications network based on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) that supports many aspects of the U.S. mail system today and provides a foundation for future technologies.  

The Postal Service uses the network to help deliver the mail efficiently and cost-effectively; inform and manage more than 550,000 employees; store and distribute data and documents; point of sale operations; stay current on the latest internal developments; and augment customer service efforts at more than 31,000 Postal Service locations.  

Verizon had previously provided many of the network services under the company's Managed Network Services (MNS) contract with the agency.  Under that contract, awarded in 1997, the company established one of the world's largest private networks for the Postal Service.  Verizon will continue to manage this state-of-the-art network – round-the-clock, 365 days a year – from Verizon's dedicated network operations center in Cary, N.C. 

Verizon already provides the Postal Service with an array of other services, including satellite services and telepresence high-definition videoconferencing for video meetings, which will be supported by the network infrastructure under the new award.

 "The Postal Service's operations are among the most far-reaching and complex in the world, and Verizon is helping them keep the mailing public connected every step of the way," said Susan Zeleniak, group president for Verizon Federal. "Whether it's tracking Express Mail, selling stamps on usps.com or linking more than 31,000 postal facilities, we're delivering the communications backbone that helps keep the mail on time in a modern world."

Verizon is the largest provider of communications services to the U.S. government, delivering a broad range of advanced IT and communications services that help to transform the way government does business.  For more information, visit http://www.verizonbusiness.com/us/solutions/government/federal/. 

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 107 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $106.6 billion in 2010 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 195,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon