Qwest, Level 3, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint didn't exactly square off Tuesday.

But the recent winners of the pieces of the Networx program - which could be worth up to $68 billion over 10 years - did aggressively promote their wares, trumpet their services and, in Level 3's case, even offered 15-minute massages.

The activity occurred at the U.S. General Services Administration's 2007 Network Services Conference, which runs through Thursday at the Adam's Mark in downtown Denver.

The conference, which attracted 1,500 people from government agencies and industry, covers a whole array of communications technologies and services. But Networx, which will provide the latest communications technologies to government agencies, was in the spotlight.

"Networx will transform the current telecommunications infrastructure," said John C. Johnson, GSA's assistant commissioner for integrated technology services. "Where we were once focused on pennies per minute (for telephone services), our focus today is on moving vast quantities of information across the globe seamlessly and securely at light speed."

David Bibb, GSA deputy administrator, joked that his eyes "get a little misty when I walk past those empty alcoves where pay phones used to stand."

Today, people are talking about unified messaging, virtual private networks and devices for an increasingly mobile work force. With unified messaging, a person can access voice and e-mail messages from a single mailbox. Virtual private networks enable employees to communicate with each other and share data in secure environments.

The Networx winners still must compete for business with individual government agencies. The government has been certifying their systems, including doing security audits.

Qwest said it expects to be the first to be certified to sell services under the new program by the end of this month.

Diana Gowen, Qwest's senior vice president for government services, said in an interview that Qwest submitted a formal proposal to the Treasury Department Monday and expects to hear back by the end of August. Qwest is the incumbent provider, so it should have an edge in that competition.

She said Qwest is in discussions with entities from the departments of agriculture, commerce, defense, interior and others. All government agencies must do something as their old telecommunications contracts expire, she said, but one of the biggest challenges is convincing them that such changes are never completely painless or without glitches.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155