Air Force cell phone plan changes to save $2 million per year

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Phyllis Hanson
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  Officials from the Office of Management and Budget have developed a plan to save the Air Force an estimated $2 million a year on government-issued cell phones.

The plan is based on a suggestion for the President's SAVE program by the Air Force Information Technology Commodity Council.

Beginning in August, changes through the Cellular Airtime Optimization Plan will be made to about 10,000 cell phone plans for Air Force employees which will better reflect their actual usage starting in fiscal 2011 (October 2010).

"Many cellular lines are not on the most cost-effective rate plan based on their usage profile," said Debra Foster, the 754th Electronics Systems Group deputy for enterprise services at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala. "With the authorization by the (major command communication officials), the vendors have been able to move users to plans that reflect their actual usage. Actual usage will be evaluated semi-annually and appropriate changes will be made to rate plans."

Rate plan optimization will occur within existing contracts held by the three main providers, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint. No contracts have been cancelled thus far, and no users have changed carriers as a result of this initiative, Ms. Foster said.

Prior to this initiative, each user selected a plan based on anticipated usage. The Air Force Information Technology Commodity Council initiative selects appropriate plans based on actual usage.

All Air Force major command communication offices had input into the strategy, which was an initiative developed from the Air Force chief information officer-approved Cellular Services and Devices strategy in 2006, Ms. Foster said.

Initially, the savings was validated in 2008 through implementation at three major commands - Air Force Reserve Command, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Space Command. The Air Force is now in the process of expanding the optimization to include all continental United States MAJCOMS, Ms. Foster said.

"Account managers are encouraged to review the voice minutes usage on their accounts periodically and should contact their vendor to make changes as needed to a more appropriate plan based upon minutes used," Ms. Foster said.

The ITCC has developed a rate plan calculator that will help determine the best plan that can be accessed from the Air Force Cellular Services and Devices website at https://www.my.af.mil/gcss-af/USAF/ep/globalTab.do?channelPageId=-2229198.