Tag: Wireless Mobility Solutions SIN

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Wireless Mobility Solutions Training: Bringing the Experts to You

Today, industry and government alike are supporting flexible work models like remote work, in-office work, and hybrid environments. Government leaders are embracing this trend, steadily moving their workforces toward mobility solutions.

As wireless networks expand and speeds increase with 4G LTE and 5G, we expect this “work from anywhere” trend to continue. GSA was an early adopter of the hybrid work model and understands the foundational importance of wireless solutions in serving the American public. Through experience, we learned to work through the hows and whys of integrating 5G into our IT portfolio. We stand ready to support fellow hybrid agencies to ensure their workforces have the devices, plans, and security to do the same. 

To help you find your agency’s next cost-effective, modern wireless solution on GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule, our mobility acquisition experts created a new Wireless Mobility Webinar.  

Wireless Mobility Solutions on GSA Schedule

We’ve enhanced our Wireless Mobility Solutions to showcase 11 different subcategories of mobility solutions that benefit both industry and government purchasers. This update is not just about wireless devices and accompanying phone plans but also includes:

  • Mobile security: Mobile Threat Protection and Mobile App Vetting services give you baseline security with real time threat detection and scanning software. 
  • Mobile administration and management solutions: Telecom Expense Management Services (TEMS) and Mobility-as-a-Service solutions can help with inventory management, cost control, reporting, trouble ticketing and the distribution of wireless devices.
  • Mobility-related Internet of Things (IoT) component infrastructure: This technology allows you to design and operate a system of devices.

ITC’s wireless solutions portfolio also includes our Best-In-Class Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions. Through EIS, you can integrate your mobility requirements with your enterprise network in one unified order.

We strive to offer the breadth and variety of modern solutions you expect from the commercial mobility market, and add new service providers and solutions regularly. If you can’t find the service or industry partner you’re looking for or need additional support, let us know at wireless@gsa.gov.

Don’t forget! If you’re a Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative Wireless BPA user, your task orders will expire between now and November of 2023. If you need help with your transition, check out this FSSI Wireless transition training on our IT Acquisition University. ITAU offers lots of great government-only content, including webinars like “How to Equip the Federal Workforce in Today’s Telework Environment” and “How to Use TEMS and Mobility-as-a-Service.”

Get involved

Join the more than 250 program and contract personnel across government who make up the Federal Mobility Group. The FMG meets biweekly to discuss research, innovation, industry engagement, and events. Recent meetings showcased how government agencies are leveraging 4G/5G technologies to further their mobility missions, including the development of autonomous vehicles and smart warehouses. There’s even a working group specifically focused on 5G. Government employees with a .gov or .mil email address can contact fmg@gsa.gov to join.

Coming up

We’re hosting a virtual event on March 16, 2022 that will feature GSA expert discussions on Zero-Trust, cloud computing, and the use of emerging technology in today’s hybrid workplace. Register now for Securing Next-Generation Hybrid Work Environments.

Finally, we’d like to welcome back our Mobility program manager Christian Williams, who has been serving on active duty for the last year. We’re proud to have many veterans working at GSA and greatly appreciate their service to our country. Welcome back, Christian!

Follow ITC on Twitter and LinkedIn, and subscribe for blog updates.

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GSA Leading the Way for 5G

In July, we gave you a first look at the possibilities of 5th generation wireless technology (5G) in the public sector.

Commercially, 5G devices will deliver voice, video, and data to consumers with unparalleled efficiency for broadband mobility. Providers will upgrade their networks, manufacturers will develop new types of devices, and industry will market products and services around connectivity and mobility.

For the government, a 5G future is more complex since we’ll be tasked with making these technologies useful for everyone. That’s why we’re publishing a white paper on 5G — watch for that after our 5G Technology Customer Event on Oct. 3.

What’s Next for Government 5G

As new technology comes to market, we work with agencies and industry to pair the right wireless solutions to mission needs — focusing on wireless solutions security and cost efficiency.

Schedule 70 SIN 132-53 shows the robust capabilities we bring to the government market:

  • Wireless Carrier Services
  • End Point infrastructure
  • Mobility as a Service (MaaS), a.k.a Device as a Service (DaaS)
  • Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
  • Mobility Backend as a Service (MBaaS)
  • Telecommunications Expense Management System (TEMS)
  • Mobile Application Vetting
  • Mobile Threat Protection
  • Mobile and Identity Management
  • Internet of Things (IoT)

10/3 GSA 5G Event

To learn more about the possibilities of 5G, join us on Oct. 3 at the GSA 5G Government Symposium. We’ll cover:

  • how 5G can help agencies meet their mission,
  • the challenges facing government as we implement this new technology, and
  • how 5G will integrate into today’s networks.

View the agenda. Join us online or in person.

Stay Tuned to 5G

For our next 5G post, we’ll explore how unlicensed and lightly licensed spectrum could affect campus networks.

Until then, please follow us on Twitter @GSA_ITC and LinkedIn to join our ongoing conversations about government IT.

To get updates for this blog, please sign up on the right-hand side of the page where it says Sign up for Blog Updates.

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GSA Replaces Expiring FSSI Wireless BPAs with Newly Enhanced Wireless SIN

It is now even easier to purchase wireless services through Schedule 70.

The newly enhanced FSSI Wireless program is now available to replace the FSSI Wireless BPAs, which expired in November 2018. Due to the success of the original FSSI Wireless program, we’re continuing to offer this solution to our customers. It’s the same FSSI Wireless program you knew and loved, just better!

In this new FSSI Wireless program, agencies will be able to purchase mobility services directly from Schedule 70 using a newly developed RFQ Generator tool on the Mobile Services Category Team (MSCT) page in the Acquisition Gateway. The intuitive web-based tool supports customer ease of ordering against the schedule. The RFQ Generator tool helps users input voice and data requirements into a downloadable RFQ template for schedule vendors. 

The project is part of GSA’s continued work as a contributing member of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) MSCT. The MSCT is a cross-government group that fosters effective collaboration and advancements among government IT acquisition professionals.  

11 Service Categories

  • Wireless Carrier Services
  • Other Mobility End-Point Infrastructure – Mobility infrastructure
  • Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS)
  • Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
  • Mobile Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS)
  • Telecom Expense Management (TEM)
  • Mobile Application Vetting
  • Mobile Threat Protection (MTP)
  • Mobile Identity Management
  • Internet of Things (IoT) and
  • Other/Mobile Services

Features and Benefits

The purpose and benefits of updating SIN 132-53, Wireless Mobility Solutions are:

  • Address the federal government’s growing need for advanced mobile solutions to include security, mobility management, application development, application vetting, and integrated services.
  • Enhance IT Schedule 70 offerings under SIN 132-53 for increased convenience and rapid access to commercially available wireless and advanced mobility solutions.
  • Provide industry partners the opportunity to differentiate their mobility solutions from other IT-related offerings.
  • Meet the needs of government agencies to make strategic decisions and bring the full value and benefits of mobility category management to government.
  • Organize and categorize mobility solutions in a manner that simplifies and standardizes the acquisition of these solutions that lowers the total cost of ownership for agency customers.

GSA’s Mobility Team continues its work to increase savings in the mobile space through the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI). GSA customers saved on average up to 30% in 2017 through FSSI Wireless. To replace the BPAs, GSA’s Mobility Team worked with the MSCT to develop a Request for Quote (RFQ) generator that agencies can use to procure wireless services in a flexible, simple way.

The MSCT looks to give agencies the tools they need to implement cellular service plans and devices more effectively and efficiently through:

  • Unified acquisition: Consolidates the number and variety of dispersed wireless contracts to reduce life-cycle management costs and drive better volume discounts.
  • Improved information management: Simplifies service plan management and enables centralized access to standardized usage data to easily identify opportunities for cost savings.
  • Center of excellence: Uses best practices and collaboration across agencies and the entire community of stakeholders to optimize performance and increase value.

We couldn’t be more proud of the work our GSA Mobility Team is doing with the MSCT. This collaboration really sets the bar for cross-agency/industry engagement and will make a real difference in the day-to-day mobile operations of government.

To learn more, please visit the Wireless Mobility Solutions (132-53) page on GSA.gov.