SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- B ? Cable Bulgaria Expansion Project Feasibility Study, Bulgaria
- Notice Date
- 5/20/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- United States Trade and Development Agency, TDA Contracts Office, TDA Contracts Office, 1621 North Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA, 22209-2131
- ZIP Code
- 22209-2131
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-0270038A
- Response Due
- 6/27/2002
- Archive Date
- 7/12/2002
- Point of Contact
- Evangela Kunene, Procurement Data Manager, Phone 703-875-4357, Fax 703-875-4009,
- E-Mail Address
-
ekunene@tda.gov
- Description
- Submission Proposal Place: Mr. Sean McCreery, Chief Financial Officer, Cable Bulgaria, 19 Tzar Boris III Blvd, 4th Floor, Sofia 1612, Bulgaria, Phone: 359-2-954-9249, Fax: 359-2-954-9834. : The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to review and analyze Cable Bulgaria?s (CB) operations in detail and make recommendations for the further development of its network throughout Bulgaria. CB was formed in 1999 through the consolidation of five cable operators in Bulgaria: Union Television, Globo, City Cable, TV Mix, and BINEX. CB currently has investments in systems with a total of 157,000 subscribers, and manages systems with a total of 136,000 subscribers. The company averages a 34% household penetration in their service areas. A typical basic package on CB?s systems provides 60 channels, with a minimum of 36 channels. Monthly fees for service range from 5-13 leva per month, with a weighted average of 8.3 leva (approximately $4.15). They also charge either a small installation fee or a monthly fee for additional outlets. CB has acquired a mixed group of systems. As a result, many of the systems are technically adequate, but need to be upgraded. At this point, only 15% of plant is hybrid-fiber coax (HFC)-ready (able to provide traditional CATV, as well as digital television, high speed internet access, telephone services and video on demand). CB is also in the process of constructing a Sofia to Plovdiv fiber optic backbone that is 60% complete; 89 kilometers have been built and 67 remain to be completed. CB has done some Internet access and VoIP testing using Cisco equipment. They expect to establish their first Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) in early 2002. The most advanced portions of the plant are located in Sofia and Burgas. A 4,800 home area in Sofia and a 7,000 home area in Burgas have been completely modernized. CB?s management is planning to spend $20-25 million for acquisitions, paying up to $150 per acquired subscriber. This would allow the company to grow by almost 150,000 subscribers. In the short term, their plans include providing HBO as a premium service and completing a fiber optic trunk line between Sofia and Plovdiv. Over the longer term, their plans include instituting HSA (high-speed access) service, pay-per-view or video-on-demand, and telephony. The company?s systems need to be upgraded in order to provide these services. CB also plans to use its national fiber optic network to provide nationwide telecommunications services. CB?s management plans to provide these new services if the demand for them exists. Their position is to ensure that a market for the service exists before building the infrastructure for the service and then subsequently trying to market that technological capability. CB therefore expects to spend up to $80 million to upgrade their systems and implement HSA Internet and telephony services. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $153,975 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm?s name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 PM, June 27, 2002 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.
- Record
- SN00080184-W 20020522/020520213403 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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