But with federal agencies spending only a fraction of the projected dollars on Networx so far, carriers are asking: Where's the money?

GSA designed Networx as a soup-to-nuts telecom deal, providing domestic and international voice, data, video and wireless services to all federal agencies. GSA awarded in spring 2007 to AT&T, Verizon Business, Qwest Communications, Sprint Nextel and Level 3 Communications.

When Networx was awarded, federal agencies said they would choose carriers through a competitive process dubbed "fair opportunity" by Sept. 30, 2008. That deadline came and went, with only a handful of agencies such as the and making moves to migrate from their predecessor FTS 2001 telecom contracts to the new Networx program.

As of April 15, only 26% of the largest federal agencies have made awards under the Networx program, GSA said. Not even half of them -- 41% -- have begun transitioning to the new contract, according to GSA. This is significant because the top 25 agencies that GSA tracks represent 95% of the business volume expected on Networx.

In a , GSA identified less than $650 million in Networx contract awards -- a small share of the $4 billion that should have gone to Networx contractors by now.