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AT&T (News - Alert) Inc. has reportedly signed a $148 million contract with State of Alabama to upgrade the state government’s communications network. The contract includes local and long distance voice services as well as Internet and data-transport services.

The contract, which is for five years, with an option to renew after three years, will allow all state agencies, community colleges, K-12 schools and libraries throughout the state to leverage advanced data applications and greater bandwidth to meet public needs. All state agencies will benefit from this new communications contract.

AT&T is already providing the State of Alabama with wireless services under an existing contract. The new contract will consolidate the state government’s fixed line and wireless services into a converged network, which will carry all types of traffic reliably across the state. The Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-enabled platform will allow the state government to run all applications over a single network without requiring multiple connections.

Jim Burns, chief information officer for the State of Alabama, said in a press release: "By consolidating all of our legacy services under AT&T, this contract will provide more efficient statewide telecommunications services for all state agencies."

He also added that the newer technology and services will make broadband service more available and economical.

It is estimated that the new contract will save the State of Alabama about $7 million in communications spending over the next five years.

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Jayashree Adkoli is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

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