WASHINGTON, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently won a $233 million task order to provide primary managed data networking services over the next five years to the Social Security Administration (SSA) under the Networx Universal contract. The General Services Administration’s Networx program is the largest telecommunications contract vehicle ever awarded by the federal government.
CenturyLink will provide network infrastructure for data, video and voice services to the SSA, which has more than 62,000 employees worldwide. As the primary service provider, CenturyLink will help SSA drive the pace for the transition from the current providers to the new service providers.
In this capacity, CenturyLink will serve all SSA data centers, regional offices, program service centers, remote operations communications centers and more than 1,500 field office locations around the world. Under the task order, CenturyLink will also provide management and implementation support and lifecycle engineering.
SSA had previously awarded a broad voice services task order to Qwest, which was acquired by CenturyLink, in 2008. The services that CenturyLink provides under the 2008 award help SSA with everything from internal communications and collaboration via audio conferencing to lowering its disability case hearing backlog via video conferencing.
The most recent managed data networking services award extends CenturyLink’s mission-focused partnership with SSA by fostering a deeper collaborative relationship that will provide a bridge for SSA to the next generation data network services.
“SSA touches the life of every American from birth forward. They serve a vital role in the security of Americans through all phases of life,” said Diana Gowen, CenturyLink senior vice president and general manager, who oversees solutions for federal, state and local government customers. “With the increased pace at which baby boomers are filing for retirement benefits, as well as unprecedented increases in the demand for all the services SSA offers to citizens, the challenges facing SSA are daunting. We are prepared to expand on this partnership with SSA to ensure flawless delivery of these vital citizen services, and we look forward to working with them to provide the data networking services they need to serve the American public.”
