Sprint Communications Company, L.P.

B-262003.2 Jan 25, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Communication and intelligence requirements until completion of a pending competition is improper is denied where the record shows that the agency: (1) properly justified and published its intent to award an interim sole source contract. Was unable to complete the planning required to do so. REDACTED DECISION A protected decision was issued on the date below and was subject to a GAO Protective Order. Sprint argues that the sole source award of a 15-month bridge contract is improper. Claims that the agency is improperly consolidating additional services onto the contract that could be awarded by competition. Sprint argues that the vehicle used to consolidate the additional services onto the DCTN contract is a July 14 agreement between AT&T and the agency. View Decision Matter of: Sprint Communications Company, L.P. File: B-262003.2 Date: January 25, 1996 * REDACTED DECISION Protest that a sole source award of a 15-month bridge contract to AT&T for continued provision of the Department of Defense's telecommunications system used in support of command, control, communication and intelligence requirements until completion of a pending competition is improper is denied where the record shows that the agency: (1) properly justified and published its intent to award an interim sole source contract; (2) planned to hold a competition for these services by the end of AT&T's existing contract, but was unable to complete the planning required to do so; and (3) has reasonably concluded that while other offerors might perform portions of the work included in the interim contract, the agency's needs would be best served by avoiding further piecemeal competitions and continuing its plans to competitively award several contracts designed to achieve significant economies of scale. Attorneys REDACTED DECISION A protected decision was issued on the date below and was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been redacted or approved by the parties involved for public release. DECISION Sprint Communications Company, L.P. protests the decision of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to award a sole source contract to AT&T Corporation to bridge the gap between the expiration of AT&T's Defense Commercial Telecommunications Network (DCTN) contract, and the expected award of several competitive procurements collectively referred to as the Defense Information System Network (DISN) contracts. Sprint argues that the sole source award of a 15-month bridge contract is improper, and claims that the agency is improperly consolidating additional services onto the contract that could be awarded by competition. In a supplemental protest, Sprint argues that the vehicle used to consolidate the additional services onto the DCTN contract is a July 14 agreement between AT&T and the agency, which, Sprint contends, is an improper sole source letter contract. We deny the protests. BACKGROUND The expiring DCTN contract here was awarded to AT&T on March 28, 1984. Under the contract, AT&T provides the agency with "a leased, long-haul telecommunications system providing end-to-end common user, switched voice and video, and dedicated data service in support of DOD [Department of Defense] command, control, communication and intelligence (C3I) requirements." WilTel, Inc. v. DISA, GSBCA No. 12310-P, 93-3 BCA Para. 25,982 at 129,194, 1993 BPD Para. 106 at 3. The DCTN contract initially contemplated a 10-year service life, but because of a 2-year delay in implementing the network, the agency (in 1986) extended the planned expiration of the DCTN contract from March 1994 to February 29, 1996. [1] Currently, DISA estimates that the DCTN contains 22,000 switched voice circuits, 200 video circuits, and 5,000 dedicated, point-to-point circuits. First Agency Report, Aug. 23, 1995, at 28. Since the award of the DCTN contract in 1984, there have been substantial changes in the telecommunications industry, including the ripple effects of the divestiture of AT&T, and the emergence of new technologies involving the blending of the telecommunications industry and the information services industry. As a result, DISA has been planning to hold major competitions for each of several segregable components of the agency's planned network of information services, the so-called DISN contracts. [2] As part of the effort to plan for this competitive procurement, the agency held a DISN Industry Day on September 30, 1993. During the presentation, attended by approximately 800 representatives of the telecommunications industry (including representatives of Sprint), the then-Director of DISA provided information about the upcoming procurements "to assist industry in planning for further DISA acquisitions." Sept. 1993 DISA Briefing Packet at 1.