AT&T (NYSE: T) Sprint (NYSE: S), T-Mobile and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have signed a blanket purchase agreement with the General Services Administration to centralize service plans for agencies under one government-wide purchasing vehicle.
The agency intends to consolidate wireless services under this strategic sourcing initiative and grant agencies access to a shared pool of minutes over the next five years, GSA said Wednesday.
GSA said it aims to save $300 million in costs over the next five years, adding the federal government spends approximately $1.3 billion on more than 4, 000 wireless services and 800 services plans from multiple carriers each year.
“As budgets tighten, our customers want more flexibility to find much needed cost savings with wireless services and devices, ” said Kay Kapoor, president of AT&T’s government solutions.
Susan Zeleniak, senior vice president for public sector markets at Verizon’s enterprise solutions business, said this federal strategic sourcing initiative intends to help federal agencies use machine-to-machine and data services.
This agreement is part of the president’s digital government strategy, which intends to spur adoption of mobile technology throughout government intending to help the government adopt mobile technology.
The BPA is also intended to follow the Office of Management and Budget’s goal to implement more strategic sourcing vehicles throughout the government.
