On the heels of a Federal judge early March ruling in favor of a handful of contractors who protested not being awarded a piece of the General Service Adminstration’s Alliant contract, the GSA let it be known things wouldn’t be resolved anytime soon.

Rather than open a can of worms by folding the eight protesting contractors into Alliant without addressing other losing bidders, the GSA opted to take a step back and re-evaluate all 62 bids for the 10-year, $50 billion governmentwide acquisition contract. After satisfying the Judge’s ruling in how it evaluates the bidders, GSA will, at some point later this year, award the contract a second time to an undetermined subset of the 62 bidders.

For those who lost out the first time around, a second chance to land the fish that got away. For the initial Alliant winners - uncertainty. After months of work submitting the bid and then building a strategy to execute once announced as a winner, these contractors have to put these plans on hold and enter wait-and-see mode.

While the wait will be excruciating, the GSA knows that rushing the process will not result in an outcome that satisfies any interested party, be they winners, losers, or, most importantly, the judge.

Herndon-based satellite network provider iDirect partnered with Intelsat and international relief organization World Vision to launch a global satellite platform that will bring high speed Internet access to remote areas around the world.

The new network, called SandukaNet, meaning “deep change” in Zambia’s Tonga language, will allow instant voice and Internet connectivity through a network of satellites.

High-speed broadband Internet access is certainly a luxury in many parts of the world, but in remote areas, there’s simply zero ability to connect online at any speed. “Remote areas of the world typically have no connectivity, or poor connectivity at best. By installing an iDirect carrier class solution, you’ve now brought them up to a standard we enjoy and take for granted in the U.S,” said Glenn Canales, Director of Enterprise Sales for iDirect.

While iDirect provides the communications hardware and software for the satellite network, Intelsat supplies the satellite capacity. As a result of this partnership, World Vision is able to provide its locations across the globe with email, voice and Internet - which, in turn, allows the NGO to connect with its supply lines and monitor information flow in remote corners of the world.

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