The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) announced today that Cox Business has been awarded statewide contracts for Internet services in selected speed tiers and zip codes.

Cox Business, which has won similar contracts in the past, was able to land the deal though VITA’s recent state broadband service request for bids.

The contracts grant Cox the ability to provide both Cox Business Internet and Cox Optical Internet services to state customers through the VITA ordering process . Cox Business has speeds that range from 2 Mbps/384 Kbps to 10 Mbps/2Mbps, while Cox Optical has speeds that range from 1.5 Mbps to 100 Mbps.

"Reliability and advanced telecommunications services from a trusted provider are an absolute necessity for state government entities," said Michael Braham, vice president of Cox Business Southern Virginia. "With this contract, Cox now is truly positioned to assist Virginia state government entities in meeting their critical information and data communications needs with cost-effective solutions. In addition, we are fully supporting their future capacity growth needs, as well as business continuity planning efforts."

In 2009, Cox was approved by the General Services Administration (GSA) for a Local Services Acquisition (LSA) contract. As a result of the approval, military and federal government customers located in GSA's Region 3 Mid-Atlantic service were able to purchase voice and data services from Cox systems throughout the state of Virginia. The latest contract allows Cox to support local and state agencies with its Internet tiers throughout Virginia.

Cox competes with Verizon in areas of Virginia.