D -- TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

Notice Date

April 13, 2001

Contracting Office

United States Department of State, Diplomatic Telecommunications Service-PO, 3920 Pender Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030

ZIP Code

22030

Solicitation Number

N/A

Response Due

April 27, 2001

Point of Contact

Ms. Jennifer Frederick, 703-302-7892

E-Mail Address

Click here to contact the Contracting Officer's via (pastperformance@hotmail.com)

Description

17. The purpose of this Request for Information Pre-solicitation Notice is to synopsize a proposed contract action and advise respondents of their viability as competitors in accordance with FAR 15.202, Advisory Multi-Step Process. This is NOT a Request For Proposal (RFP), Invitation For Bid (IFB), or announcement of a solicitation. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. The Government intends to utilize an unrestricted competitive negotiated procurement process (using FAR Parts 12 and 15) to select a service provider to transition Telecommunications Services at approximately 140 overseas Embassies/Consulates from their current, largely point-to-point dedicated topology to more reliable, more efficient services (core requirement). In addition, the Government intends to utilize this potential contract to provide services with as many as 250 additional circuits. Required service will also include 24x7 Technical Support and Maintenance. Determination of the Security Classification of this acquisition is pending. The Government anticipates the successful Offerors will utilize a combination of leased-line, satellite, and mixed leased-line/satellite approaches to provide the required services. The Government envisions a potential IDIQ Task Order contract with a ten-year (120 Months) period of performance with a 5-year (60 month) base contract period and five option periods of 12 months (1 year) each. The Government anticipates multiple awards by region(s). In the RFP stage, each Offeror will be required to propose services for all requirements. The NAICS code for this effort is 51333,Telecommunications Resellers. Contract award is anticipated in late FY 2001. Current Government planning includes issuance of a draft RFP in May 2001 with issuance of the final RFP in June, 2001. (NOTE: A pre-proposal conference is planned approximately 10 days after final RFP issuance). Proposal receipt is planned for July. In the eventual solicitation, the Government intends to request a fixed price per bit for each of the approximately 140 Transition stations. This per-bit price is to include any non-recurring costs associated with provision of services. Transition of these services will be by Task Order utilizing the quoted per-bit price and will be completed the first 5 years of the period of performance. The Government anticipates requiring priced per-bit rates for the first 5 years of the period of performance with pricing for the subsequent five years being negotiated in Year 4. The Government is investigating indexed price adjustment provisions (up or down) for yearly pricing. The Government currently anticipates requiring Offerors to provide alternative pricing for: (1) replicating the current point-to-point solution, (2) replicating the current point-to-point solution with upgrades to E-1 service wherever possible, (3) the Offeror's regional solution, or a solution based on grouping of circuits or other basis. Provision of New Services to other stations will be by individually negotiated Task Orders. In addition to service transitions and provision of new services, the Government anticipates including the following optional areas of effort: Enhanced Transport Services (Technology Refreshment) and Network Architecture Development (Topology/Efficiency) services. The Government's Objectives for this potential acquisition include: o Orderly Transition of Current Services o Highly Reliable Full Period Dedicated Circuits, 24x7 o On-Time Delivery of Services o Service-Provider responsiveness to problems/changes o Communications Accuracy o Improved Economies of Service o Proactive and Responsive Contract and Task Order Management The Technical Requirements for the services provided include:  Delay for leased-line services (round-trip) < 340 ms  Delay for satellite services/hybrid (round-trip) < 700 ms  Circuit Interfaces G.703  Percent Available Seconds (to include scheduled maint) 99.65%  Bandwidth Requirement Upgradable to E-1 in 64KBPS increments PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR RFI RESPONSE: CAPABILITIES PACKAGE (including teaming information):  General Capabilities Statement (2 pages)  Management Capabilities (5 pages)  Technical Capabilities (10 pages)  Leased-line Service Provision  Satellite Service Provision  Support Service Provision (NMC, Service Restoration, Teleport Services, etc.)  Network Architecture Development/Implementation  Transition Planning Capabilities (5 pages)  Past Performance Capabilities (Six (6) 3-page profiles utilizing the attached past Performance Template). Work must be ongoing or have been completed during the past three calendar years.) Potential Offerors' qualifications will be evaluated on the following: (1) Adequate technical expertise, staff, and facilities (2) Experience and familiarity with the management and provision of similar, large-scale telecommunication services and support. After evaluation of responses, each respondent will be advised in writing either that it will be invited to participate in the resultant acquisition or, based on the information submitted, that it is unlikely to be a viable competitor. The "unlikely" respondents will be advised of the general basis for that opinion. Notwithstanding this advice, any respondent may participate in the resultant acquisition. Text shall be at least one-and-one half-spaced, typewritten. Print shall be a minimum of 12-pitch font or a maximum 10 characters per inch (10-pitch, pica) spacing. Text and graphics must be readable by MICROSOFT (MS) Office 2000 MS Word. Submit one hard copy (and one electronic copy via e-mail) of the Qualifications Package and Past Performance Information to the below listed office. Ms. Jennifer Frederick Contracting Officer 3920 Pender Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 E-mail: pastperformance@hotmail.com The Qualification Package is due by COB (4:30 PM EDST) April 27, 2001. Respondents must indicate whether they are: large, small, small-disadvantaged, woman-owned, HubZone, Veteran-owned, Service-disabled veteran-owned, and whether they are foreign or domestically-owned and controlled. NOTE: THE CONTRACTING OFFICER SHOWN ABOVE IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED POINT OF CONTACT FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL ACQUISITION. THE PREFERRED MODE OF COMMUNICATIONS IS VIA E-MAIL. PAST PERFORMANCE TEMPLATE Contract Number(s): Contract Name: Total Contract Value; if Subcontract, value of the subcontract: Performance Period: Summary of Work Performed: Scale Information size and topology of networks (charts will not count toward page limitations) Technical Content Transition Effort Management Effort Staff Assigned (by labor category) Price History/Stability Principal customer points of contact with phone number, FAX number, E-mail address, and mailing address (If Subcontract, provide POC for the Prime contract).

Web Link

Go to web site to view draft RFP in May 2001. (www.statebuy.gov)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010416/DSOL006.HTM (W-102 SN50J0L3)