Ireland Degges
Lumen Technologies has received a $223 million task order from the Defense Information Systems Agency to deliver secure, mission-critical communications services to the Department of Defense.
Under the award, Lumen will provide modern hybrid-cloud and audio-conferencing services in support of the DOD’s novel Voice over Internet Protocol system, which is designed to remove the need for desk phones and enable the department’s transition to a hybrid working environment, Lumen announced from Washington on Thursday.
“The U.S. Department of Defense has a far-reaching mission to provide military forces to deter war and ensure our nation’s security,” said Zain Ahmed, senior vice president of Lumen’s public sector arm.
“The DOD is modernizing its network and leveraging cloud-based technologies like the new voice system enabled by Lumen that securely connects our troops with modern communications tools wherever they are,” he added.
Lumen’s work is intended to streamline DOD communications services through the establishment of an integrated phone system able to support over 250,000 simultaneous connections. It will operate over Lumen’s fiber network.
The upgraded voice and conferencing services will be hosted on cloud data centers that meet DOD Impact Level 5 security standards. It will provide modern capabilities and scalable infrastructure to better meet the needs of the warfighter.
These offerings will also assist the DOD with its transition to an enhanced 911 system at military bases– a move that is expected to improve the process of locating and routing first responders to a caller’s position and prepare the system to transport photos and videos in the future.
The award has a one-year base period and includes three one-year options as well as a potential six-month extension. It was made under the General Service Administration’s 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program.
Lumen is currently providing network services to multiple federal organizations. In November 2022, the enterprise secured a $1.5 billion award to bolster network transport and communications systems for the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.
Earlier that year, Lumen won a task order valued at over $1.2 billion from the Department of Agriculture to provide a unified wide area data transport service with secure remote access, contact center and cloud connectivity capabilities.
Under an additional $1.6 billion task order awarded by the Department of the Interior in January 2020, the company is securing and modernizing the department’s network services and information technology systems.
