Verizon to Support FAA Telecomms Platform Through $2B Contract

Verizon Public Sector has secured a 15-year, $2 billion contract for communications support for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Under the FAA Enterprise Network Services contract, Verizon Public Sector will build a secure network platform with enhanced broadband capabilities to support the National Airspace System. The platform will support various missions, including air and ground safety, freight and select Department of Defense flights.

One function that the platform will carry out is air traffic management for over 45,000 flights traveling across the U.S. national airspace, Verizon said.

The platform will also feature service provisioning and reconfiguration, survivability, service flow routing and user experience enhancements. The telecommunications company will also deliver engineering, management, service and test and evaluation support services.

The contract will also be the foundation for the Next Generation Air Transport System, a multibillion-dollar program to modernize the NAS.

The FENS contract is one of several infrastructure enhancement deals the company has secured in recent years. In October, Verizon secured a 10-year, $1.58 billion contract to modernize the Department of State’s communications infrastructure that supports embassies, consulates and other sites outside the United States.

In July, Verizon landed a $400 million deal with the FBI to expand the agency’s data bandwidth to support work outside the country.