Summary: From telephone calls to video conferencing to providing nationwide customer access to information, the Agriculture Department (USDA) uses a wide array of telecommunications technology. GAO found that USDA is not cost-effectively managing its annual $100 million telecommunications investment. USDA agencies waste millions each year by paying for (1) unnecessary telecommunications services, (2) leased equipment that goes unused and services billed but never provided, and (3) commercial carrier services that cost more than three times what they would under the FTS 2000 program. These problems exist because USDA's Office of Information Resources Management has not fulfilled its responsibility to mange and oversee USDA telecommunications and ensure that resources are properly used, costs are controlled, and federal requirements are met. USDA is also not cost-effectively planning its telecommunications networks and ensuring that they can support the agency's information sharing needs for the 21st century. Instead, the Office of Information Resources Management continues to approve the acquisition and development of costly new agency networks that overlap and do not support interagency sharing.
