Blue Cross, Blue Shield Awards AT&T $250 Million Contract

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is looking to AT&T tomanage its companywide network.

The insurance giant announced yesterday that it has awarded AT&T a three-year, $270 million contract to integrate Blue Cross and Blue Shield's voice and data services to streamline the network-management process for the organization. The technology aspect of the contract encompasses voice and teleconferencing capabilities, and digital private-line, frame relay, wireless, and local services. AT&T will also provide the technology and services to support Blue Cross and Blue Shield in its efforts to consolidate its call centers.

According to AT&T, the underlying objective of the agreement is to establish a "future-proof" telecommunications network that will scale as new technologies are introduced.