MODIFICATION
D -- Veterans Guest Internet Access
- Notice Date
- 11/29/2010
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 517210
— Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;Technology Acquisition Center;260 Industrial Way West;Eatontown NJ 07724
- ZIP Code
- 07724
- Solicitation Number
- VA11811RI0032
- Response Due
- 12/7/2010
- Archive Date
- 2/5/2011
- Point of Contact
- Julina Lee, Contract Specialist
- E-Mail Address
-
A.
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to questions posed by interested parties. 1)VA has multiple medical facilities in the current 50 states and territories. A current article stated 153 facilities are being looked at. Will this project be a Veteran Set-aside based on RFI responses? ANSWER: This information is not known at this time and will be determined later in the acquisition process. 2)Will a listing of the states be provided at this time? ANSWER: A listing of all Medical Facilities is not available at this time. 3)Why does the VA require cellular internet service over a Wi-Fi service? ANSWER: The RFI makes note of both Wi-Fi and 3G, the potential exists that certain facility areas will not be structurally capable of supporting wireless access points, therefore the medical center management may deem the coverage essential enough that cellular service may be requested as an alternative. 4)Will the VA consider Wi-Fi infrastructure as a wireless internet solution? ANSWER: Yes 5)Will a GSA schedule be required for VGIA project? ANSWER: This information is not known at this time and will be determined later in the acquisition process. 6)What is the uplink and downlink Megabytes per second (Mbps) requirement? ANSWER: The requirements are listed. We are not specifically requiring network speed minimums or maximums. 7)Will each facility require service for each in room patients only or will there be a requirement for general facility areas, i.e. hallways, lobbies, waiting rooms, staff offices, etc. ANSWER: This depends on the specific facility, but there is a potential for all of the above. 8)What are the IP security requirements? ANSWER: The security requirements are listed in the Draft Technical Requirements which were posted as an amendment to this RFI. 9)Does the VA require a call center setup with 24 x 7, 365 days out of the year service? ANSWER: For IT staff access only. 10)We believe the NAICs Code for this RFI should be 517110 rather than the published 517210. The VA's chief information officer has been quoted as saying that broadband cellular wireless should be used as an alternative to Wi-Fi. Which service provider is best suited for the VA at this time? ANSWER: Thank you for the NAICS code suggestion. We will look into this. 11)Is there a preference between, GSM, UMTS, EVDO, HSDPA, WiMax, or other third generation (3G) or pre-fourth generation (LTE) technology ? ANSWER: No 12)Is there an estimate of the number of users per facility that includes the number of bed patients and facility personnel? ANSWER: Not at this time. This number would be dependent on the facility. 13)In the event of a power outage, are each of the facilities equipped with a redundant power supply or will an alternative power source be required, i.e. Solar, UPS, etc? ANSWER: Yes 14)Does this RFI include a DSL or Cable provider for providing the internet service? ANSWER: No 15)Will laptop computers or other type of internet capable infrastructure be required, i.e. Google TV? ANSWER: No 16)Will the VA consider a 3-5 day extension for this RFI response? ANSWER: The RFI response date was extended to December 7, 2010 via an amendment that was posted to FBO. 17)Will this be a multi-award or single award? ANSWER: This information is unknown at this time. We are in the planning stages of the process and assessing the market with this RFI. 18)How many of the medical facilities are considered rural? ANSWER: This information is unknown at this time. 19)Will there be any limiting requirements regarding cellular frequencies being used in a hospital environment (i.e., commercial service radio frequencies versus MRI, CT Scanners, other medical devices)? ANSWER: This information is unknown at this time, but there is potential for the above to exist. 20) We would like to understand if the VA is interested in implementing completely separate wireless access points and network infrastructure to support guest access, or if a separate SSID and security settings should be used on the existing wireless AP and controllers? Using the existing equipment would be as secure, and would be much more cost effective. ANSWER: VA is interested in a completely separate wireless access points and network infrastructure to support guest access. 21) Please explain the need for PCI compliance requirements, if this network will be a separate network from the hospital operational WLAN network? ANSWER: From the PCI Compliance Guide, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that ALL companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID). The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was launched on September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards with focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process. The PCI DSS is administered and managed by the PCI SSC (www.pcisecuritystandards.org), an independent body that was created by the major payment card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.). It is a compliance standard that has been applied to the current national wireless infrastructure upgrade.
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