AT&T Government Solutions Connects Military Servicemen and Women With Family and Friends.

AT&T Government Solutions* announced it has been awarded a series of task orders worth up to $48 million to provide satellite-based voice, video, and Internet services to deployed military service personnel overseas. The task orders were awarded through a 2009 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quality (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Marine Corps MWR Business Operations Division.

Through the task orders, AT&T, along with its partners, uses its network management, professional services, and satellite communication capabilities to design, deploy, and maintain a satellite and IP-based, mobile communications network to support the U.S. Marine Corps' Morale Portable Satellite Communications (MoraleSat) program. MoraleSat allows forward-deployed military personnel in Southwest Asia to communicate with family and friends.

The MoraleSat equipment suite includes the L-3 GCS Cheetah™ auto-acquire flyaway VSAT system and the MissionMobility Modular Communications Suite, allowing military personnel access to voice, video, and web-based services through readily-deployed mobile communication satellite terminals and IP router components. The MoraleSat suites use satellite bandwidth, Internet, and VoIP services provided through UltiSat, Inc. UltiSat also provides Tier II support to the AT&T Tier I helpdesk. Through MoraleSat, military personnel can access social media and networking sites, such as Facebook, iTunes, and Skype, which are not accessible on military data networks.

"The ability for military personnel serving in remote locations to communicate with family and friends back home is vital to their morale and well-being," said Thomas Harvey, Senior Vice President, AT&T Government Solutions. "AT&T is honored to deploy and maintain MoraleSat and provide a secure and reliable network, and portable communication terminals, to help soldiers stay connected while they serve our country overseas."

"The U.S. military needed a global network that could handle large volumes of morale-type voice, video, and data traffic that did not affect mission-critical networks," said John Klebonis, Vice President, AT&T Government Solutions. "AT&T's solution provides the U.S. Marine Corps and other U.S. military services with access to commercially-available services, supported by around-the-clock maintenance and support."

The MoraleSat IDIQ contract has a one-year base period and four option years.

*AT&T Government Solutions is a business unit within AT&T Corp., an affiliate of AT&T Inc. AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Keywords: AT&T Inc., Asia, China, Defense, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Military.

This article was prepared by China Weekly News editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, China Weekly News via VerticalNews.com.