Defense Supply Service-Washington, 5200 Army Pentagon, Rm. 1D245, Washington, DC 20310-5200

D -- WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS (CELLULAR PHONES, PAGERS, PLUS) POC Barbara Brown, 703/695-7083//Contracting Officer Ruth Kelly, 703/614-2106 E-MAIL: Click here to contact the contract specialist via, BrownBA@hqda.army.mil. Defense Supply Service -- Washington (DSS-W) issues this Request For Information (RFI) regarding wireless telecommunication devices, services, and airtime to satisfy wireless telecommunication requirements for the Department of Defense (DoD) agencies in the National Capital Region (NCR). The geographic area defined as the NCR includes the District of Columbia; Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia; and all cities and towns included within the outer boundaries of these counties. Additionally, DoD components are located in Calvert and Frederick counties in Maryland; Fauquier, Frederick, and Stafford counties in Virginia; and Fredericksburg, VA. DSS-W seeks information from sources who have the capability to provide cellular and/or paging devices and service locally (within the NCR), nationwide, and internationally. Cellular requirements include the provisioning of cellular phones, analog and digital services, wireless voice and data transmission capability, all channels to include telephone numbers, carrier access and airtime, and features commonly available to commercial customers. The government currently owns approximately 10,000 cellular phones of which 89% are analog and 11% are digital. Current services provided by Bell Atlantic Mobile include roaming and long distance, voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID, text messaging, numeric paging, and wireless data applications. Current airtime usage per month is approximately 398,000 minutes local; 1,100 minutes off-peak; 133,000 roaming; 22,500 roaming long distance, and minimal international. Paging requirements include the provisioning of pagers; digital and alphanumeric service, all channels; and pager numbers. Service is to include operator dispatch, retrieval of messages when sent while in an area that does not receive the page, and one-number connect service for personalized greeting, numeric messaging, and voice mail storage and delivery. The government currently owns approximately 26,000 SkyTel pagers of which 7,000 are alphanumeric and 19,000 are digital. Current usage is approximately 17,000 with service within the NCR; 9,000 with nationwide service; and a minimal quantity with international service. Paging features commonly used by government personnel include 2-way and 1 1/2-way, e-mail, text messaging, retrieval of messages after having been out of the coverage area, and news headlines. The potential contract would be a multiple award fixed-price Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity type contract and allow for inclusion of wireless telecommunication technological advancements during the life of the contract. The period of performance will be one base year and four option years. Standard Industrial Code 4812, Telephone Communications, will be used for determining company size. DSS-W seeks Industry's comments on the following issues and invites respondents to address each with availability, pros and cons, and concerns as they pertain to cellular phones and/or pagers. 1) Ordering process of contractor-designed web-based interface via DTS-W website. Customers will access DTS-W website to place orders. 2) Flexible billing options to allow the customer to choose direct billing to his/her agency (approximately 700 exist) or consolidated billing to a central office. 3) Contractor-designed interface with the Government's billing system. There are three main phases to this billing system: The first is service order processing which involves verification of funding (via electronic system check) prior to approval of service orders. The second is invoice processing which validates charges, matches totals, and reconciles fallout. Reconciling fallout will primarily be the responsibility of the contractor. The last phase is the vouchering process which creates, packages, and transmits vouchers for payment. 4) Acceptance of the Government credit card for purchase and payment of devices and short-term services. 5) Contract performance terms and conditions available to commercial users. 6) Suggestions for contract line item structure. 7) How is the completion rate measured and how often is it obtained for pages sent and cellular calls initiated? 8) How is the signal penetration measured and how often is it obtained for pages sent and cellular calls initiated? 9) Would it be fair of the government to contractually demand a certain percentage of completion and penetration rates? 10) Considering the frequency of technology updates, how can the government stay current with the offerings from multiple contractors and not assume a great administrative burden? 11) Ability to initiate cellular calls and pages from international countries. 12) The most cost effective way to obtain maintenance for a pager or cellular phone after the manufacturer's warranty has expired. 13) Remaining mindful of system security, the potential of also using the web-based ordering interface (ref #2) for official documentation of the government's receipt of devices. 14) The Industry standardfor delivery times of cellular phones and pagers to commercial customers. 15) The Industry standard for delivery methods of cellular phones and pagers to commercial customers. 16) Oral proposals for this potential procurement. 17) Does the wireless industry (both cellular phones and pagers) have a feature equivalent to the wireline industry's Line Load Control, whereby in times of crisis certain critical users would be given access? 18) Roaming and long distance priced together? What's the industry standard? 19) Impact if the government required cellular calls be routed over the FTS 2001 network. 20) Can cellular phone minutes under a package be rolled over from one user to another within a certain grouping? 21) Availability of CDMA and TDMA. 22) Availability of 2-way radio feature on cellular phones. 23) What's the industry standard for billing cellular phones airtime usage? Is it rounded up? Is it rounded down? In what increments? 24) The potential of offering the government a flat rate per minute of cellular phone airtime for calls originating in the United States regardless of where the call was made to within the United States. How would it compare, cost wise, to your best service package? 25) Availability of lease services for international cellular requirements. 26) Service packages available for paging. How do they compare with each other, cost-value wise? In addition, the government requests full product line lists, associated packaging and pricing, and volume discount ranges. Industry is likewise encouraged to comment on suggested contract type and term, as well as describe any limitations for geographical area(s) within their proposed approach. Respondents are invited to offer comments regarding acquisition strategy, phase in/phase out procedures from current to follow-on contractor, identification of risks with industry technology advances, and ideas to minimize billing problems. Performance under the potential contract shall commence without interruption of services. While it is desired that the government be able to continue use of its current government-owned cellular phones and pagers, other solutions/strategies will be entertained. If unable to continue use of its government-owned cellular phones and pager, the government is contemplating requiring successful vendor(s), if different than the incumbent contractors, to provide a like-for-like swap of telecommunication devices at no cost to the government. Sources interested in meeting this government requirement shall submit their responses to Defense Supply Service -- Washington, ATTN: Barbara Brown, 5200 Army Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310-5200. Responses shall not exceed 100 pages and be received no later than close of business September 9, 1999. Proprietary information shall be clearly identified as such. Based on submissions, selected respondents will be invited to brief the Government and present further details of their submission as well as discuss recommended solutions/strategies. Choices of selection are not subject to dispute. Respondents will be notified telephonically of their selection to brief. Notification will occur no later than September 15, 1999. Briefings, which shall not exceed one hour in length, will be conducted in a Government facility in the Washington, DC, area September 20 thru 22, 1999. This RFI is for information, market research, and planning purposes only. This is not a notice of solicitation and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for information received in response to this RFI. If your organization has any comments related to this RFI, please forward them via e-mail to Mrs. Brown at BrownBA@hqda.army.mil. NOTE: The government does not intend to provide a response to comments. The Government will retain comments and information received in response to this RFI. The information provided in this notice is currently being drafted and could change. This information is provided to conduct market research and obtain industry perspectives and practices as the Government develops its strategy. Posted 08/19/99 (W-SN370150). (0231)

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