VITA Announces Access to Competitive Broadband Contracts
Broadband Contracts Will Benefit State Agencies and Localities
RICHMOND –Virginia Secretary of Technology, Jim Duffey, today announced that state agencies, localities and other public bodies will now have access to a variety of competitively priced broadband technologies, bandwidth offerings and discounted month-to-month rate plans through new Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) contracts.
Secretary Duffey commented, “This means state agencies and other public entities throughout the Commonwealth can access contracts with established competitive rates without committing a significant amount of staff time to researching and selecting broadband service providers. Given the current economic climate, the ability to streamline this process and generate cost savings by reducing monthly reoccurring service fees and upfront staff time is critical. I am pleased that the state can provide the options available in these new contracts. These new contracts offer service in every ZIP code in Virginia.”
Secretary Duffey said a variety of broadband options now are available across the state through the 14 contracts. The options include:
- cable modem services
- digital subscriber line (DSL)
- fiber to the premise (FTTP)
- traditional private line with a dedicated data circuit
- satellite services
- wireless with fourth generation (4G) standards or fixed wireless and radio with ground stations, such as Wi-Fi and WiMax
In addition, he said, wireless third generation standards (3G) services are available on cellular data plans covered by state cellular contracts.
VITA has developed on online search for broadband services and pricing using ZIP codes. The search returns a list of contracts for services available in the ZIP code where the broadband services are to be installed.
Service options on the contracts provide Internet access with download speeds ranging from 768k (kilobits per second) up to 100m (megabits per second). Basic broadband is defined in terms of providing data transfer rates equal to or greater than 768k in at least one direction: downstream (from the Internet to the user’s computer) or upstream (from the user’s computer to the Internet).
Pricing is based on the technology type, bandwidth and the geographic service area.
These contracts expand technologies and services currently available on state contract. Not every area of the Commonwealth has high-speed broadband options available. As a result, while there are service options in all ZIP codes in the state, not all areas within a particular ZIP code may be covered or have access to all technology types.
Representatives of a state agency or public body interested in utilizing the VITA contracts can use the Web search tool or contact VITA Supply Chain Management.
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