Retraction (clarification) on INS contract . . . .
I have been on the phone, again, with INS staff. I reported a month ago that IDX' contract from last fall for 100 TP-600s had been extended and the new bid suspended. Based on that conversation with employee #1, and some CC colloquy between J. Saf and Randy Fowler, I concluded that IDX has been shipping some TP-600's this past quarter, payment terms due, probably, this quarter.
Unfortunately, that's wrong.
I just got off the phone with INS staff #3 (I'll get to #2 in a minute). Believe it or not, the INS has not gotten any new tenprinters since the 100 last fall. They are still dotting their i's and crossing their t's on the procurement side for this year's appropriation. According to INS staff #2, what little equipment that has been trickling into the fingerprint centers has been off the old contract. Apparently, even the HQ demo TP-600 was recently pressed into service somewhere. There is no new bid out on the street, yet. It may possibly be true, as INS staff #1 told me, that the old contract (that's the IDX deal, has to be) was extended. But I could not confirm it. And the other information from #1 was wrong. The good news, I suppose, is that all these sales still lie ahead, somewhere. But I don't think it will be in 1Q99, now.
Also, INS staff #2 was familiar with the border patrol equipment. This person said that about 600 or more oneprinters have been installed. There is no expectation of an upgrade to tenprinters. Perhaps a couple hundred more will be installed in the next two years. Brad, I don't know where the $16.2 million has gone in this deal, but not much is going our way.
Sorry to be the bearer of this news, and I take full responsibility, the fault was mine and mine alone, for misleading the American people. Of course, I don't apologize and, really, you should get mad at someone else. Maybe Fowler, maybe Meissner, I don't care. Just not me. |
