SOLICITATION NOTICE
D -- Cincinnati Local Services (CLS) - (Telecommunications)
- Notice Date
- 7/19/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 517910
— Other Telecommunications
- Contracting Office
- General Services Administration, Federal Technology Service (FTS), Center for IT Solutions (5TF), 230 South Dearborn Street - Room 3380, Chicago, IL, 60604-1696, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- CLSRFP061271
- Description
- Pre-solicitation Notice GSA Great Lakes Region 5 anticipates issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement of a telecommunications local Service contract for the entire city of Cincinnati and its metropolitan areas. Existing Program and Anticipated Replacement The Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Information Technology Services (ITS) Network Services Division (NSD) of the General Services Administration (GSA) currently provides local telecommunications services in the Greater Cincinnati Area under a Metropolitan Area Acquisitions (MAA) contract. The current MAA contracts offer a broad portfolio of commercial services and products at very competitive prices- including voice, data, video and technical services. With the contract continuity of service set to expire in 2008, FAS is replacing the local contract with a program known as Cincinnati Local Service (CLS) contract. Acquisition Strategy The Government has defined two service groups: voice services and data services, with related technical support and ancillary service enabling devices. The Government?s approach to the acquisition of these services is as follows: Voice Services (VS) ? Offeros may propose voice services to be eligible for a CLS award. Voice services are specified in a functional manner in order to allow Offerors the flexibility to meet voice requirement with either traditional or emerging technologies. Offerors will have the additional flexibility to determine the extent of service coverage within the CLS service area, Offerors are also encouraged to propose a complementary set of technical support services that enhance their voice service offerings. Data Service (DS) ? Offerors may propose data services to be eligible for a CLS award. The Government has specified a required set of data services described herein. An Offeror shall meet all requirements associated with that service. Offeros are allowed to the flexibility to meet the data service requirements with emerging technologies. Offerors are also encouraged to propose a complementary set of technical support services and CPE that enhance their data service offerings. Summary of CLS services are as described below ? Offerors will be encouraged to propose additional commercially available services and equipment that enable, enhance, or otherwise extend their service offerings and value to the Government. CLS services include local access; i.e., the dedicated or switched connection from the Offerors office to the customer?s Service Delivery Point (SDP) and includes transmission. CLS services include local access and transport, the connections between the Offerors locations serving the originating and terminating SDPs within the CLS service area, and the IXC access, the connection between the CLS network and the IXC?s Point of Presence (POP). The Offeror shall support IXC access by providing customer organizations the ability to choose the Government-specified Government Designated Interexchange Carrier (GDIXC)/Pre-subscribed Interexchange Carrier (PIC) for long distance services. Table of CLS Services (Note: Services may be provisioned with functional equivalents.) Service Group Services and Products Voice Services (VS) 1. Analog Business Lines. 2. Analog/Digital Centrex Lines or Centrex type service. 3. Digital ISDN BRI Business Line 4. Digital ISDN PRI PBX System Access Line 5. Internet Access-Dynamic DSL 6. Internet Access-Static DSL 7. T-1/DS1 Access Line 8. T-3/DS3 Access Line 9. SONET 10. Interface to the Federal Technology Service FTS2001 Network and/or subsequent contract(s) awarded as its replacement (i.e. Networx Universal and Enterprise). 11. Provide Voice Messaging Services to include Voice Mail boxes, Automated Attendants, and Call Processors where the service is requested. 12. Equal access to the long distance carrier selected as the inter-exchange carrier (PIC) by dialing 1 before the long distance number. The PIC selected may be a FTS2001 or Networx vendor. Data Services (DS) 13. Circuit Switched Data Service (CSDS) 14. Dedicated Transmission Service (DTS) 15. Internet Access Service (IAS) 16. SONET Services, Pt to Pt and Ring based. Acquisition Approach CLS contract objectives, acquisition strategy, and contractual features are described below along with the acquisition schedule and socioeconomic goals: Service Continuity ? Ensure customers have access to comprehensive products and services currently available and in-demand in the GSA FAS Greater Cincinnati area. Competition ? Leverage service volume and structure acquisition to attract multiple Offers for award, drive favorable pricing, and foster competition over the life of the program. Modern Support Systems - Incorporate state-of-the-art web-enabled commercial Business Support Systems (BSS) and Operational Support Systems (OSS). Alternative Sources ? Obtain alternate solutions and sources, equal to or better than, what is currently used. Enable Convergence ? Promote migration to a converged environment through access to emerging technologies with continuous refreshment. Contractual Features The CLS will entail a single acquisition with multiple awards and will incorporate the following contractual features: 1. FAR Part 15 awards ? The Government will negotiate indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract awards. 2. Best value source selection process ? Source selection criteria will include a balance of technical and price factors. 3. Minimum revenue guarantees ? The Government is considering a minimum revenue guarantee of $2,500 for each award. Combined total award(s) is estimated at 4 million dollars. 4. Firm fixed prices. 5. Special contract provisions. Technology refreshment, price management, and service level agreements (SLAs) are planned. 6. 7 year contract term. Contract awards will include a three-year base period and 4 one-year options. 7. Fair Opportunity. 8. Centralized and Direct Order/Direct Bill (DO/DB) capability. All services ordered and billed through the GSA centralized billing environment will be paid by GSA. All DO/DB services will be the responsibility of the cognizant contracting officer. This option allows clients who are authorized by GSA to place orders directly with the contractor to be billed directly from the contractor. Schedule The Government plans to issue a CLS Request for Proposal (RFP) in the 3rd quarter of calendar year 2007. The Government envisions that the CLS awards will be completed in the 4th quarter of calendar year 2007. This schedule should provide sufficient time to transition from the current Cincinnati MAA contract to the CLS awards. Small Business Strategy The Government desires to utilize small business participation to the greatest extent possible. Not only is the Government investigating small business prime opportunities, it will require other than small businesses to submit and aggressive small business subcontracting plans as part of their proposals. The Government is considering making these subcontracting plans and goals an evaluation factor. Pricing The offeror shall propose firm fixed price schedules for all specified services and related features identified in the proposed RFP, for each applicable year of a three year base with four option years. The unit prices for services (as to be defined in the price tables) shall not include federal, state and local taxes and duties in effect on the contract date that the taxing authority is imposing and collecting on the transactions or property covered by this contract. The offeror shall provide in its proposal a separate itemized list of these taxes that would be included in its monthly invoices at the time of the proposal submission, including the name of the tax, jurisdiction by name and applicable tax rate. Excepted taxes, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.2229-4, shall be included in the contract price, but not itemized on the monthly invoices. The offeror shall describe in Table B.1-1, Tax. Surcharge, and Fee Category Code Acronyms and Descriptions, and detail in Table B.1-2, Taxes, Surcharges and Fees, all such mandatory taxes, that may appear on an invoice that are in existence at the time of contract award. Offerors shall use the jurisdictional rates in existence at the time of proposal submission for all years of the contract. All other, surcharges, and fees for which the offeror retains discretion in its method of cost recovery shall be bundled and included with the basic prices for services/products and not separately itemized. The service prices shall exclude all mandatory taxes. Discretionary surcharges and fees. Universal Service fund (USF), Pre-subscribed Inter-exchange Carrier Charges (PICC), and End User Common Line (EUCL) are considered part of the basic service price. Firm Fixed prices shall be entered for both Service Installation Charges (SIC) and Monthly Recurring Charges (MRC) in the tables. The taxes excluded from basic service price for these services shall be identified in the column marked ?taxes.? The column labeled ?All Inclusive Total? shall reflect the total of the basic service price plus taxes. (All orders under this contract shall not exceed the prices contained in the price schedules of this Section B. All price tables shall be effective at the time of contract award. Prices provided in the proposal shall not increase within a base/option year but may increase from option year to option year. Prices may decrease at any time to reflect changes, such as the benefits resulting from applications of new technology or improved market conditions in accordance with the, Price Reductions Clause. All prices revised as a result of a contract modification shall become effective on the date established by the modification action. A revised pricing table(s) shall be provided, indicating the changes and reflecting the revision date. Revised pricing tables shall be provided a minimum of 30 calendar days prior to the effective date of the modification. Prices shall fall into three general categories: 1. Basic service 2. Features 3. Other charges Basic service is defined as that set of capabilities that are inherent within the base price and shall not be unbundled from the base price. The basic service prices shall consist of all access, transport, and applicable discretionary surcharges and fees. Basic service shall also include management and operations; transition and migration and implementation; and reporting functions unless specified otherwise in this contract. Basic services prices shall also exclude any taxes and End User Common Line (EUCL) charges that may apply. Universal Service Fund (USF) and Pre-subscribed Inter-exchange Carrier Charges (PICC) are considered as part of the basic service prices. The Pricing Tables shall be used by the offeror to identify the price of service and the mandatory taxes, surcharges, and fees that will be billed to the Government or Government end-user. The information provided in these tables, excluding mandatory taxes, will be considered in the evaluation of the offerors proposal. Any other charges not included in the pricing tables and supporting documents submitted by the offeror shall not be allowed for the term of this contract. Features are capabilities that are offered beyond the basic service to be selected at the option of the user. Other charges are non-service specific non-recurring charges associated with service provisioning in accordance to the best commercial practices, may include, but are not limited to charges associated with changing the features assigned to a line, processing a service order request on an expedited basis, etc. The offeror may also provide optional products and services that are within the scope of this contract but are not identified in the price tables. Charges for ?Other Direct Costs? (ODCs) shall be established on an individual-case basis, in accordance with Other Direct Costs and will be stated in the RPF under Special Contract Requirements. Examples of ODCs include provision of services and materials to prepare sites for service and equipment. Repeated use of an ODC, for the same type of task, is prohibited and will lead to a contract modification and the establishment of a new CLIN. Service Ordering The Government?s requirement is that the CLS transition process shall be transparent to the customer and the Offeror shall be able to process CLS service orders using existing service order processes. The CLS service ordering process shall, at a minimum, support the following functions as well as requirements to interface with the Government?s ordering and billing system. 1. Provide service price quotes. 2. Initiate service orders. 3. Track service orders. 4. Change service orders. 5. Accept service orders. 6. Disconnect service orders. Customer Service Point of Contact. The Offeror shall provide a single, toll-free point of contact in the Offeror?s Customer Service Center to GSA and Direct Order Direct Billing Agencies (DODB) using information from the Client?s Guide. The required level of support shall include home page development, design, maintenance, and regular updates of CLSC services, products, and pricing Ordering Period. Orders may be issued under this contract from date of contract award through the expiration date of the contract. All orders issued under this contract are subject to the terms and conditions of the contract. The contract shall prevail in the event of conflict with any order. All orders issued prior to expiration of the contract shall be honored and performed by the Offeror according to all terms and conditions of the contract. Copies of all service orders shall be maintained by the Offeror for the length of the contract, plus six years. Invoice Submission The Offeror shall bill in arrears on a monthly basis. The Offeror shall provide the Government two methods of billing. 1. Direct Billing ? The Offeror shall invoice each customer cost center that is using direct billing and provide supporting billing data. Each such customer will verify the invoice and directly pay the Offeror. 2. Centralized Billing ? The Offeror shall invoice GSA and provide supporting data for payment and processing charges to all customers using centralized ordering. GSA will verify the charges and pay the centralized invoice. GSA is responsible for paying the Offeror only for the CLSC centralized invoices that charge the centralized billing user agencies or sub-agencies. GSA will not be responsible for any charges directly invoiced to any agency or sub-agency. The Offeror shall be responsible for the collection of charges from directly billed agencies or sub-agencies. Although agencies will decide whether they want direct billing or centralized billing, the Offeror shall be notified by the GSA ACO. Transition Requirements The offeror shall be required to address two forms of transition. 1. The initial transition to the Offeror?s CLS network. 2. The transition from the Offeror?s CLS network to the follow-on network or service arrangement. Continuity of Operations Plan (CCOP) The Offeror shall have a COOP designed to ensure continuing Offeror telecommunications support to the Government in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, etc. The Offeror may additionally offer support for the Government?s COOP as requested by the Government. NOTE: THE ABOVE IS ONLY A SYNOPSIS OF THE ANTICIPATED CLS RFP EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED DURING THE 3RD QUARTER OF CALENDAR YEAR 2007, AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PRIOR TO ISSUANCE.
- Place of Performance
- Address: The Greater Cincinnati Area
- Zip Code: 45201
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 45201
- Record
- SN01347352-W 20070721/070720002529 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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