AT&T wins $725M task order from Veterans Affairs

AT&T’s Oakton-based Public Sector organization secured a $725 million, 12-year task order to modernize the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ data network, the company will announce Wednesday.

The contract is to deliver a modernized data communications platform that will serve as a foundation for innovative Veterans Affairs (VA) technology capabilities, according to the announcement. The task order falls under the General Services Administration’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract for federal agencies. AT&T’s Public Sector has won nearly three dozen such awards, the company says.

The VA’s network is used to help manage the country’s largest integrated health care system, serving 9 million enrolled veterans annually at 1,255 health care facilities.

“It is a special honor to win the opportunity to help VA modernize its mission in the service of our many heroes,” said Chris Smith, vice president of Civilian and Shared Services, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet, in a statement.

AT&T says it will work with the VA on such capabilities as wide area networking, virtual private networking and managed network services. Work includes making health care records digitally accessible in near real time, replacing paper records.