Pentagon waves goodbye to copper as Verizon modernises DoD
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Pentagon waves goodbye to copper as Verizon modernises DoD

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Verizon has landed three new contracts with the US Department of Defense (DOD), which it said are worth US$966.5 million and will see the telco replace the Pentagon's copper-based telephony systems.

Three contracts for Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) have been confirmed by Verizon Public Sector, which said it will provide network modernisation services and technical support services to the Pentagon, the DOD National Capital Region (NCR) and Fort Belvoir.

The contracts are worth $515.3 million, $432.9 million and $18.3 million respectively.

“The U.S. Dept. of Defense is at the forefront of technology modernisation, and we are proud that Verizon has been selected to grow our existing partnership and continue to serve as its digital transformation partner,” said Maggie Hallbach, SVP, public sector at Verizon.

“Building on 5G and other professional services awards Verizon secured in 2021, our team of professional and managed services experts are in lock step with DOD’s strategic priorities and we stand ready to help their leadership adapt to the increasingly sophisticated requirements and growing network infrastructure demands.”

The $515.3 million Pentagon contract will see Verizon transition the entire Pentagon military and civilian population from copper-based telephony to IP-based services, providing a "converged-enterprise environment for the Pentagon’s voice and data services". This includes converting more than 52,000 voice lines to an integrated IP environment with optimised voice and video services.

The $432.9 million DOD-NCR contract will see Verizon will deliver core voice, transport, internet and professional services to more than 370 locations within the DOD-NCR, which leads an interagency group responsible for the homeland security and defense of the Washington, D.C. area and surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland.

At Fort Belvoir, the $18.3 million task order will cover core voice, transport, internet and managed services. The U.S. Army garrison provides logistical, intelligence and administrative support to a diverse mix of commands, activities and agencies in the Washington, D.C. area.

It's almost six months since Verizon said it has been awarded a contract to deliver 5G Ultra Wideband services to seven Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) bases in seven US states.

Those bases are located in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas and the deployment will include C-band radios installed outdoors at each AFRC facility, for the base personnel and the surrounding community.

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