AT&T today inked a $175 million, 12-year contract to upgrade the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) data and voice networks, according to the operator.

The deal calls for AT&T to provide the Department of Transportation with virtual private networking, IP-based voice services, and access to cloud computing and services. The network transition is already underway and expected to be complete next year, according to AT&T. 

The scope of work also includes a network-based firewall, distributed denial of service (DDoS) capabilities, and managed trusted internet protocol service (MTIPS). MTIPS is a General Services Administration’s framework that allows federal agencies to connect to the public internet and cloud in a more organized and secure manner.

"We expect AT&T VPN service will become the foundation of DOT’s network and carry the agency’s voice and data traffic.  Over the period of the agreement, DOT has the option to acquire and transform further with other advanced technologies. AT&T is also providing AT&T NetBond which allows the agency to securely connect to cloud service providers over their VPN," Chris Smith, VP of civilian and shared services in AT&T’s Public Sector business unit, wrote in response to questions.

AT&T’s contract with DOT was awarded under the GSA’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) technology buying program, which is part of the U.S. government’s $50 billion telecommunications and network modernization initiative. All federal agencies were required to have at least 50% of their services transitioned to EIS earlier this year.

The AT&T-powered all-IP network will eventually support almost 55,000 federal employees that work at the agency. It will also allow for the provisioning of more cloud services that support remote working and equip the agency with tools to deploy new IP-based apps, according to the operator.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has shared some big ambitions for the nation’s transit systems, and modernizing the department’s infrastructure is a separate but important part of that goal. 

The department he took stewardship of earlier this year includes many divisions including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, among others. 

AT&T earlier this year won a similar 12-year, $231 million contract with the U.S. Treasury.