After exiting the federal information technology (IT) market two years ago, telecommunications provider Sprint [T] says it is reentering the space aggressively with plans to offer a range of products and services designed to meet customer demands for new and emerging technology solutions.

“Our approach is completely focused on, ‘How do we help build the focus on the technical and overall functional modernization of the government space?’”” Chris Felix, vice president of Government Solutions for Sprint, said last in an interview. “’How do we take all the different products and services that are out there and take it to the next level?’”sprint

Felix joined Sprint in late 2017 to lead the company’s new federal push, coming out of retirement following a 27-year career with competitor Verizon [VZN] in the government sector. Sprint made the announcement on Feb. 8, saying the converged solutions it will bring to  bear include mobile communications, Internet of Things technology for smart buildings, sensors for vehicle and asset tracking, mobile electronic forms, cloud computing and related security.

Sprint will still sell individual products and services to government clients but also will work with them to provide larger solutions as they seek to modernize their IT systems and capabilities, Felix told Defense Daily last Friday.

Sprint left the federal business in 2016 as it worked under the weight of financial impacts to comply with U.S. regulations around foreign ownership. A majority of the company was acquired by Japan’s SoftBank Group in 2016.

Felix said that in late 2017 Sprint has passed audits “with flying colors” by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and the National Security Agency, and is now in a position compliance-wise and financially to return to the federal market.

In the first half of 2018, Felix expects that Sprint will regain positions on two key defense contracts for telecommunications equipment and services, one held by the Army and Air Force, another by the Navy. He also said the company will work to get on the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70, which is a multiple award contract that allows federal, state and local customers to acquire IT tools and services.

Sprint’s renewed focus on the federal space comes as the federal government is poised to begin long overdue investments in its IT capabilities. Felix noted that the White House has selected the GSA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as pilot test beds for IT modernization efforts, adding that Sprint intends to work with these agencies to test some of its converged solutions.

The solutions sets that Sprint is offering will include capabilities provided by two SoftBank companies. Satellite services company OneWeb, which is planning a constellation of low-orbit satellites to provide worldwide communications coverage, and computer micro-processor designer Arm, which is planning to be part of any connected device, including sensors.