The federal government is now one big family in the eyes of mobile wireless carriers.
The General Services Administration announced the awarding of a new governmentwide blanket purchase agreement that will allow the federal government to consolidate its wireless service plans and centralize management.
GSA said the agreements could bring approximately $300 million in savings over the next five years.
“By buying in bulk, we’re buying once and we’re buying well,” said GSA Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini in a released statement. “This common-sense approach allows us to do what families and businesses across America do every day. We’re driving down costs, increasing efficiency and improving service and operations. These agreements give agencies the ability to pool minutes, order plans and devices more efficiently and have greater visibility into their purchases.”
Tangherlini, whom President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate as the full-time GSA administrator, was joined by executives from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon in making the announcement.
GSA said federal agencies spend an estimated $1.3 billion on wireless services and mobile devices annually.
The government, though, has had a fragmented approach to managing them, with the agencies handling more than 4,000 separate wireless agreements and 800 wireless plans.
Joe Jordan, administrator for federal procurement policy at the Office of Management and Budget said: “This is an important day for our governmentwide strategic sourcing efforts. We applaud GSA’s work on this initiative, and look forward to working with agencies as they take advantage of these new and innovative agreements that will help save taxpayer dollars.”
