SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Special Access
- Notice Date
- 9/4/2013
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 518210
— Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
- Contracting Office
- Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Managing Director, Contracts and Purchasing Center, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20554, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20554
- Solicitation Number
- FCCRFI130002
- Archive Date
- 10/15/2013
- Point of Contact
- Gary Klaff, Phone: 2024181407
- E-Mail Address
-
gary.klaff@fcc.gov
(gary.klaff@fcc.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Purpose: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is conducting a one-time data collection from certain companies that supply and purchase dedicated services or supply "best efforts" services as described below. In that context, the FCC needs to provide a secure data environment to maintain the confidentiality of data and information collected and allow authorized outside parties to review and perform their own specialized statistical analyses on the data using analytic software such as SAS and Stata. It is anticipated that this would include the provision of data hosting, data security, and technical support services as well the provision/coordination of software licensing. The FCC is exploring the use of physical locations and/or the use of a virtual private network using thin clients to provide virtual desktops. In addition, the FCC is considering whether to have the provider of the secure data environment provide analytic support to the FCC to ensure that the results of the specialized statistical analyses maintain the confidentiality of the original data submissions. General Background: The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. It was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and operates as an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress. Within the FCC, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or Bureau) works to ensure that all Americans have access to robust, affordable broadband and voice services. The Bureau works to promote growth and economical investments in wired technology infrastructure, development, markets, and services. The FCC is looking at whether its current "special access" regulations for the larger traditional phone companies-the "price cap" carriers-should be updated to ensure that the regulations reflect the state of competition today. Special access lines are dedicated high-capacity connections used by businesses and institutions to transmit their voice and data traffic. For example, wireless providers use special access lines to funnel voice and data from cell towers to wired telephone and broadband networks. In addition, small businesses, governmental branches, hospitals and medical offices use special access for the first leg of communications with the home office. Branch banks and gas stations use special access for ATMs and credit card readers. The FCC has the obligation to ensure that special access lines are provided at reasonable rates and on reasonable terms and conditions. The FCC's special access regulations should promote competition for and economically efficient investment in the dedicated services that businesses rely on to deliver their products and services to American consumers. After a comprehensive evaluation of relevant data, the FCC will look at revising its rules to provide relief from regulations in those geographic areas where a robust and competitive special access market exists. In December 2012, the FCC issued an order initiating a comprehensive data collection calling for providers and purchasers of special access and certain entities that provide "best efforts" services to file competitively sensitive data and information on their facilities, served locations, prices, revenues, and expenditures. In order to allow parties to effectively participate in the FCC's rulemaking process, eligible parties who have signed an "Acknowledgment of Confidentiality" (similar to a non-disclosure agreement) must be given the opportunity review and analyze data in order to file comment in the proceeding. The Commission has delegated the implementation of the order to the Bureau. Operational Needs: The FCC needs to provide a secure data environment that would allow outside parties to perform specialized statistical analyses on confidential data. The secure data environment may be one or more physical locations, a virtual private network (VPN), or a combination of both. In order to allow all parties to effectively participate in this proceeding, access to the secure data environment must be free of charge. That being said, the Bureau is interested in alternatives that would increase the convenience of access for parties who may be willing to pay for access in other locations or by use of a VPN. The secure data environment must be fully compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA); the mandatory provisions of the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS); and, NIST Security Plan 800-60 with a NIST impact rating of "moderate" for the level of confidentiality required. The "moderate" rating is solely for the purposes of complying with the NIST rating system. The data collection calls for providers and purchasers of special access and other services to file data and information on their facilities, served locations, prices, revenues, and expenditures. Much of this data and information is held in high confidence by the filing parties and is commercially sensitive. •The Bureau estimates that there will be 100-200 gigabytes of data that will require data hosting and database administration. In addition, the Bureau anticipates that there may be updates to the data that require periodic data deposit and transfer. The data are housed at the FCC on a UNIX platform. A copy will be transferred to the provider of the secure data environment. •The Bureau anticipates the secure data environment would need to be available for approximately one to two years, although the heaviest use would be over a specific six-month period. •The Bureau expects between 10 and 60 outside consultants may wish to access the data. The Bureau anticipates that outside consultants will analyze the data primarily during a specific six month period although it could be longer. •Outside parties must be able to save their interim analyses and final results in the secure data environment. Parties may not be permitted to store/copy the confidential data or their analyses onto a local device or mobile storage medium. •Software, including but not limited to SAS, Stata and ARCgis, must be available for use by outside parties. •The Bureau will provide the names of outside parties permitted to access the secure data environment after the party has signed the Acknowledgement of Confidentiality, been publically vetted by interested parties, and approved by the FCC. Specific Needs: The following questions are provided to stimulate responses on how these needs might be satisfied. For purposes of this RFI respondents should respond with all appropriate or useful information, even if the information suggests an alternative requirement or standard or suggests reconsideration of the requirement described in the RFI. The FCC requests information either from a vendor that has delivered a similar operational capability to federal agencies or a vendor who can offer this service in FY 2014. Provision of a Secure Data Environment •How can a secure data environment be provided? •Are there physical secure data environments located in the Washington metropolitan area that can be used for this purpose? Are there physical secure data environments located outside of the Washington metropolitan area that can be used for this purpose? •What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a physical secure data environment? •What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a virtual private network to provide a secure data environment? Potential Vendors •What types of industry groups could provide the services as described? Has your company provided similar services to this for federal government agencies or in situations where confidentiality was paramount? •Provide your capability to meet your technical approaches or solutions, identifying how you would meet the requirements in terms of: staff expertise; corporate experience, vendor experience and in-house capability and capacity to perform he work; and prior completed projects of similar nature to include examples, references and contacts. Security, Access to Software, and Database Capabilities •What types of requirements should be included to ensure the service provider has adequate storage space for data housing including saving the analyses performed by outside parties? •What types of usage tracking can be employed in a secure data environment? Are there other types of tracking in addition to usage that should be used? Are there different types of tracking recommended for a physical secure data environment compared to a virtual private network? • Is there a way to ensure that analyses that leave the secure data environment are aggregated to a high enough level to ensure confidentiality of the submitters? How can final results be transferred to the outside parties performing the analysis? •What are the various methods for providing access to software that requires licenses? Should the FCC allow outside parties to provide their own software and licensing? If yes, how can outside software be safely loaded into the secure data environment? Costs: How could costs be structured if it is decided to offer free use of a physical secure data environment in the Washington metropolitan area and charge for the convenience of access to virtual private network? What alternatives exist that could increase the convenience of access for parties who may be willing to pay for additional access?   Submission: Submissions to this RFI are due no later than September 27th, 2013 11am Washington D.C. Local time. All responses shall be sent electronically in PDF or Word 2010 compatible formats. Responses may be submitted by email to: Subject Line must read FCCRFI130002 - Special Access Point of Contract FCC Contracting Officer Gary Klaff Gary.Klaff@fcc.gov Disclaimer: This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is for informational planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any actual procurement of materials, machinery, or services. This notice does not constitute a solicitation or a promise of a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely at the responding parties' expense. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. Respondents will not be notified of the results. The FCC will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued. Contracting Office Address: 445 12th Street, SW Washington, District of Columbia 20554 United States
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