DISA to replace JHITS with Pacific telecom upgrade in 2018
The Defense Information Systems Agency said on Aug. 3 that it planned to upgrade its telecommunications operations in the Pacific Rim next year with a shift away from legacy systems.
DISA officials said on the agency’s website that the new Pacific Enterprise Services – Hawaii, or PES-HI, program would shift existing analog communications for Department of Defense personnel in Hawaii to upgraded “almost-Everything over Internet Protocol (IP) technology base” to provide features like voice over internet protocols and web conferencing.
“PES-HI will modernize the network,” said PES-HI Program Manager Leah Rogers in a statement on the DISA website, “and it will provide the capability to upgrade legacy voice and data services that are presently under the Joint Hawaii Information Transfer System (JHITS) contract.”
JHITS was first awarded a decade ago in a $250-million contract to AT&T in 2006, but DISA issued a request for information on how to upgrade the system in 2012.
The JHITS contract is set to expire in June 2018, prompting officials to shift legacy services onto the PES-HI platform while until IP services can be fully implemented.
JHITS provides more than 45,000 Defense Switched Network telephone line services for U.S. personnel in areas like Singapore, Wake Island and the Kwajalein Atoll, in addition to 3,100 point-to-point intra-Hawaii dedicated transmission circuits for DoD telecommunications services.
According to GovTribe, DISA last issued a blanket purchase agreement for installation and site support for the project in September 2016.
DISA officials said they would provide a comprehensive plan outlining the transition.
