The General Services Administration has started seeking proposals from industry for the development of a $50 billion communications infrastructure in a move to modernize enterprise services for federal customers, Federal Times reported Wednesday.Steve Watkins writes GSA released a draft request for proposals for the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program on Saturday, with a final RFP set to be issued in July before awarding a contract by the end of fiscal year 2016.
The agency intends for the 15-year EIS program to replace the legacy Networx contract vehicle, which currently serves 25 percent of the federal market, according to the report.
GSA plans to extend Networx until 2020 after the program expires in 2017 and as agencies begin their transition to EIS, Watkins reports.
Five vendors have signed up for the Networx program and GSA officials expect the new contract vehicle to attract more companies, Federal Times reports.
Mary Davie, assistant commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services at GSA, told reporters during a conference call that the administration also intends to reduce federal telecommunications services contracts in the future through the category management initiative, the report says.
