U.S. Information Agency, 301 4th St., SW. Washington DC 20547

D -- ATLANTIC OCEAN REGION (AOR) SOUTHERN TRANSMISSION FACILITIES SOL IA0300-S7234737-MB DUE 063097 POC Marlene Brooks, Contracting Officer, Fax (202)205-5466, Phone: (202)205-9664 The U.S. Information Agency's International Broadcasting Bureau's s (IBB) Office of Engineering (B/E) requires terrestrial fiber optic cable service from the B/E Network Control Center (NCC) located at 330 Independence Avenue SW, Washington D.C. to a Contractor supplied satellite gateway facility for transmission to Government Furnished (GF) satellite space segment via the INTELSAT Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR) 332.5 Degree East Satellite, Transponder 14/14 West Hemi to West Hemi. The Contractor shall pro vide separate, duplex fiber optic cable paths from the NCC to the gateway facility. The first will be used to transmit a 30 MHZ wideband analog video channel with nine (9) audio and data sub-carrier channels. The second must be a telco standard DS-3 to support a simultaneous Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) compressed digital video transmission. Both the analog and digital video channels will be received from the fiber optic cable at the Contractor satellite gateway facility and simultaneously transmitt ed to the GF satellite space segment. Transmission of the analog signals from the NCC to the AOR satellite is required by October 1, 1997. The simultaneous transmission of the second compressed digital video signal from the NCC to the AOR satellite is required by July 1, 1998. During the base year of the contract, the Agency will convert the wideband analog signal to a Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) compressed digital video carrier. The elimination of analog and complete transition to a compressed di gital format is currently scheduled for September 30, 1998, although may be carried out at anytime during the base year of the Contract. Contract term: Base year -- October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998, year, plus six (6) option years. It is anticipated that Solicitation No. IA0300-S7234737-MB will be issued on or about June 2, 1997, with a closing date 3O calendar days after its issuance. Qualified offerors may request a copy of the forthcoming solicitation by submitting a written request to Marlene Brooks Contracting Officer at the above-listed address. All responsible sources may submit a proposal in response to the forthcoming solicitation document, and all proposals shall be considered by the Agency. (0134)

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