SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- TRS Funds Administration Services
- Notice Date
- 10/31/2008
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 517919
— All Other Telecommunications
- Contracting Office
- Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Managing Director, Contracts and Purchasing Center, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20554
- ZIP Code
- 20554
- Solicitation Number
- SOL09000002
- Archive Date
- 6/15/2009
- Point of Contact
- Anthony S Wimbush,, Phone: 202-418-0932, Anthony S Wimbush,, Phone: 202-418-0932
- E-Mail Address
-
anthony.wimbush@fcc.gov, awimbush@fcc.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This pre-solicitation synopsis is for Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Funds Administration Services requirement. This synopsis is prepared in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. The Federal Communications Commission (Commission) intends to select a Contractor to assume the roles and responsibilities of the Interstate TRS Fund Administrator (Administrator). The Administrator shall be responsible for all functions associated with administering the Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) including (1) collecting monies from covered interstate common carriers and VoIP providers to create the Fund; (2) developing annual compensation rates, in accordance with Commission guidance, for the various forms of TRS; (3) determining the annual Fund size and carrier contribution factor based on the compensation rates and projected minutes of use for each form of TRS; (4) paying monies from the Fund to eligible TRS providers to compensate them for their reasonable costs of providing TRS; (5) advising the Commission on cost-recovery issues and managing and safeguarding the Fund; and (6) Implementing effective internal controls in accordance with the standards and guidelines established in OMB Circular A-123. The Administrator is responsible for administering and managing the Fund in an efficient, effective manner to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy the benefits of the program as Congress intended. The Contractor shall assume the Administrator functions from the entity currently performing these functions. Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which added section 225 to the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act), requires the Commission to ensure that TRS is available to persons with hearing and speech disabilities. Specifically, section 225 of the Act instructs the Commission to ensure that TRS is available, “to the extent possible and in the most efficient manner,” to persons with hearing or speech disabilities in the United States. The statute requires each common carrier offering “telephone voice transmission services” to offer TRS to persons with hearing and speech disabilities that is “functionally equivalent” to voice telephone service. TRS is available nationwide, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so that persons with hearing and speech disabilities can make calls to, and receive calls from, voice telephone users. In some circumstances, TRS equipment also permits persons with hearing disabilities to communicate directly with each other (although such calls are not TRS calls). Initially, only interstate TTY-based TRS (“traditional TRS”) minutes were reimbursed from the Fund; however, today the Fund reimburses relay service providers for several forms of TRS. These are: (1) interstate traditional TRS; (2) interstate Speech-to-Speech (STS); (3) interstate captioned telephone service (CTS); (4) interstate and intrastate IP Relay; (5) interstate and intrastate Video Relay Service (VRS); and (6) interstate and intrastate Internet Protocol (IP) captioned telephone service (IP CTS). Required services are to cover a one-year base period and four one-year option periods. The Government anticipates the release of Solicitation No. SOL09000002 within 2 to 3 weeks predicated on a full and open competition basis. The Government anticipates a vendor response time of 90 days after release of solicitation. Although it is the Government’s intent to release the solicitation electronically via Government Point of Entry (GPE), potential sources interested in receiving a copy of the solicitation must contact Tony Wimbush, Contracts Specialist/Contracting Officer, FCC/Contracts & Purchasing Center, at 202-418-0932 or via email at anthony.wimbush@fcc.gov. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which will be considered.
- Web Link
-
FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=51282d28cb3a27bc2f7ed19a861cee5b&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Unknown at this time - To be Determined, United States
- Record
- SN01699041-W 20081102/081031214604-51282d28cb3a27bc2f7ed19a861cee5b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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