SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Internet Service
- Notice Date
- 8/2/2011
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- Contracting Office
- PWR - NPSA NP of American Samoa National Park of American Samoa Pago Pago American Samoa 96799
- ZIP Code
- 96799
- Archive Date
- 8/1/2012
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- E11PS81353 - Special Announcement Text: In accordance with FAR 6.302 and 5.2, this notice advertises the government's intent to award a non-competitive contract to the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA), for one base year plus two option years at firm-fixed prices per year. The National Park of American Samoa is in need of a company "on island" with an onsite IT representative that can provide the Internet Services required to support the parks Information Technology demands without interruption. Comments and questions regarding this announcement may be directed to Claudette Moreno, Contracting Specialist, at claudette_moreno@nps.gov. All comments received by August 11, 2011 will be considered. JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION for SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITIONS OVER $3,000 AND UP TO $100,000 (See FAR 13.106-1) 1. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEM/SERVICE BEING PROCURED AND ITS INTENDED USE: A Non-competitive award (base year + two option years) to the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) services, in effect from 08/12/11 to 07/31/2012, and two option years FY13 - FY14). The National Park of American Samoa is in need of a company "on island" with an onsite IT representative that can provide the Internet Services to support the parks Information Technology demands without interruption. 2. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION RATIONALE (Check one and explain below): (X) Only one responsible source. ( ) Urgent and compelling circumstances exist. Include critical delivery or performance dates, and when you became aware of the requirement. Provide a specific statement of the impact on Government operations, financial or otherwise, if the required delivery or performance dates are not met. ( ) Other EXPLAIN: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) is responsible for maintaining and preserving unique paleotropical rain forest preserves scattered across three remote islands and a coral reef that are home to unique tropical animals including the Flying Fox, Pacific Boa, sea turtles, and a diverse array of birds and fish. Park lands are on three separate islands; Tutuila, Ofu and Tau, and total nearly 11,000 acres. All of the lands and waters are leased from the respective villages and the American Samoa Government. The NPSA office is currently located at the Halleck Building in Tafuna. This office is leased space within a private office building. NPSA will be moving their offices to a new location located at the MHJ Building in Pago Pago. The new office space is also leased space in a private office building. The move is pending construction and should be completed within a few months. Both the current and future NPSA offices need telephonic and network LAN/WAN support at the facilities. There are two Internet Service Providers (ISP) located in American Samoa. One is the current provider of service to NPSA, BlueSky Communications. The other is the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA). BlueSky Communications has charged the NPS approximately $2500 a month for what they deem a 256k wireless connection to NPSA's current location. This 256k is not a standard rating as it is considered 128k up and 128k down which would be considered a 128K connection by most standards. This connection is not enough to meet the parks needs for its approximately 21 computers, 2 physical servers, and 4 virtual servers. BlueSky was contacted about providing a higher level of service and countered with an offer to go with a 1024k connection (512k up and 512k down) but at a significant price increase to $5100 a month. The current service is woefully inadequate and the new service is woefully too expensive for the speed of service. The service from ASTCA is much more in line with what a park the size of NPSA needs to perform their daily computer functions and keep up with NPS requirements for software updates and patches. Further, NPSA has no onsite IT representative and most of the IT support is done by NPS representatives located in Hawaii, Oakland, and Seattle. These representatives rely on remote administration software that needs to have a connection speed higher than 512k in both directions to adequately support the computers and servers. ASTCA's $1,000 a month as compared to $5,100 a month from BlueSky for a true 3Mbps connection (3Mbps up and 3Mbps down), is considered to be fair and reasonable. 3. MARKET RESEARCH. Please explain the results or why one was not performed. State whether any other offers were received or anyone expressed interest: The PACN IT team performed a market survey of alternatives for connections to the NPSA office space. The only other service provider on the island is ASTCA. ASTCA is asking $1000 a month for a true 3Mbps connection (3Mbps up and 3Mbps down), a service approximately six times faster than what BlueSky is offering at less than 1/5th of the monthly recurring cost. They have a similar service agreement in the event of outages, and can provide internet in both the current location as well as the planned new location. 4. IF THIS IS A DETERMINATION FOR SOLE SOURCE, THE CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFIES: a. Only one source is available, or urgent and compelling circumstances exist. b. The anticipated price will be determined fair and reasonable using the price analysis techniques described in FAR Part 13.106-3(a). /s/ Mike Reynolds, Superintendent National Park of American Samoa /s/ Laurie K. Mahalla, Contracting OfficerPWR-PWRH Above $25,000:
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