EDS sets sail with $7bn US Navy contract

NEWS The Navy will pay $4.1bn over five years for a department-wide intranet system from a group comprised of EDS, Raytheon, Wam!Net, and WorldCom. An optional three year extension brings the total price tag for the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) to nearly $7bn. EDS and its partners will install and maintain voice, video and data services for 360,000 users both onboard and at 300 bases throughout the US, Cuba, Guam, Iceland and Puerto Rico. NMCI will link into shipboard IT systems and the Marine Corps Tactical Network, and it will replace a variety of existing shore-based command data networks. In a prepared statement, Dick Brown, CEO of EDS, hailed the contract as "a great triumph for EDS, the Navy Marine Corps and the American taxpayer". He added: "This contract signals a major shift in the way the Navy Marine Corps use technology to become more efficient, and we expect other federal agencies to follow suit."