Percy Fernandez Pilco, Vice Ministro de Comunicaciones, Ministerio de Transportes, Comunicaciones, Vivienda y Construccion, Av. 28 de Julio 800, Lima 1, PERU, Phone: (51-1) 433-2707, Fax: (51-1) 433-4833

B -- PERU WIDE AREA NETWORK PROJECT DUE 121696 POC Carol Stillwell, USTDA, Room 309, SA-16, Washington, D.C. 20523-1602, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax No.: (703) 875-4009 PERU WIDE AREA NETWORK PROJECT. The Ministry of Transport, Communications, Housing and Construction (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 for the proposed Wide Area Network project. The Office of the Vice Minister of Communications within the Ministry of Transport, Communications, Housing and Construction is taking the lead to develop a Wide Area Network to coordinate and interconnect the operations of federal government ministries and to upgrade their computer systems. The primary objective of the project is to modernize the computer systems government-wide in order to facilitate secure and reliable information sharing, while utilizing already existing databases to decrease the costs associated with information exchange in the form of mail, courier, and other non-electronic media; reduce or eliminate duplication in data gathering; and to significantly reduce the costs of telecommunications interchange. To assist in the planning and implementation of the proposed Wide Area Network, the Grantee plans to carry out a feasibility study that will include the review of telecommunications requirements for all individual federal government agencies in Peru; determine the best backbone communications technology which should be procured based on present and anticipated telecommunications infrastructure; and develop an investment and implementation plan for high priority and medium-term communications. Specific tasks of the feasibility study include the following: o Review the general telecommunications requirements of the Government of Peru, its ministries and associated organizations; o Assess the current traffic requirements and an estimation of future traffic demand requirements; o Define telecommunications infrastructure objectives, including an evaluation of options for cost-effective interconnections with remote locations; o Develop a network management system to include configuration management, fault management, performance management, accounting management, security management, planning, and workforce management; o Propose a model for the backbone network system; o Carry out an environmental assessment; o Develop capital costs and investment requirements; o Perform an economic and financial Analysis; o Define and develop financing options; o Assess training requirements; o Prepare study reports. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $325,000 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 Room 309, SA-16, Washington, D.C. 20523-1621. 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. Due to the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00pm will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00pm 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 four copies of the Proposal in Spanish and English directly to the Grantee in Lima, Peru by December 16, 1996. 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. (0305)

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