GSA Opens Call for DC-Area Telecom Service Proposal

The request for proposals (RFP) is now open for the Washington Interagency Telecommunications System 3 (WITS 3) acquisition on FedBizOpps, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced. Issued by the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) within GSA's National Capital Region (NCR), WITS 3 will replace the existing WITS2001 contract, which expires January 2008. 

"We believe the WITS 3 RFP will encourage vigorous competition because it offers industry an excellent opportunity to step in with innovative solutions and aggressive strategies to support government cooperation and innovation into the next decade,” said NCR's Acting Regional Administrator Ann Everett. “WITS 3 is part of GSA's overall telecommunications strategy, and complements GSA's Networx contract by assuring a smooth path forward for our many customers in the National Capital area.”

WITS 3 will provide the latest and most cost-effective communications services for all federal agencies and other authorized users in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.  It will continue to offer current WITS2001 customers a wide range of voice and data services, technical support services and equipment but will incorporate new, innovative services as they become commercially available in the rapidly evolving telecommunications market.  For industry, WITS 3 is structured to provide the greatest amount of flexibility for proposing fresh approaches while allowing bidders to propose services where they are commercially available. 

"WITS 3 is the largest of the regional local service procurements planned," said John Johnson, FAS Assistant Commissioner for Integrated Technology Solutions.  "The National Capital Region has the largest local service community of federal government users in the nation, with the most sophisticated local communications needs.  Not only will WITS 3 ensure our Federal customers here have continued access to the best local service telecommunications technologies available, it will also serve as a stable platform for customers desiring to transition their enterprise infrastructures to GSA's Networx portfolio of service offerings during the next decade.”

Industry responses to the WITS 3 RFP are due March 5, 2007.  The solicitation (WTOC06RCN0001) and a link to a portal providing secure, electronic access to traffic data (e.g., location, type, and quantity of services), is available at gsa.gov via http://www.gsa.gov/wits3 .