Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 22, 2003 FBO #0725
SPECIAL NOTICE

D -- PCGN (VSAT) Final Q&A

Notice Date

11/20/2003
 

Notice Type

Special Notice
 

Contracting Office

Peace Corps, Office of Planning Budget and Finance, Office of Contracts, 1111 20th Street, N.W., Room 4413, Washington, DC, 20526
 

ZIP Code

20526
 

Solicitation Number

PCGNqna2
 

Response Due

12/3/2003
 

Archive Date

12/31/2003
 

Point of Contact

Christopher Smith, Contract Specialist, Phone 202-692-1626, Fax 202-692-1621, - Christopher Smith, Contract Specialist, Phone 202-692-1626, Fax 202-692-1621,
 

E-Mail Address

csmith2@peacecorps.gov, csmith2@peacecorps.gov
 

Description

Regarding the subject requirement (see 16 & 23 SEP, as well as 06 NOV 2003 notices for "Peace Corps Global Network by Very Small Aperture Terminal"), the following are further questions submitted by interested parties (Peace Corps technical point of contact is Michael Porter, T: 202/692-1340): Q11: Describe the Peace Corps? ideal rollout/deployment schedule? What is the ideal start date for the first remote to be deployed? In which country? How many antennas (remotes) will be installed in each country? A11: Peace Corps contemplates beginning deployment in January 2004. The first countries would be the republics of Guinea, Chad, Niger, Kiribati, and Turkmenistan. Only one antenna per country is contemplated. Q12: Which countries will then be prioritized and how many remotes will Peace Corps need in each of those countries? A12: Peace Corps' telecommunications priority is the Voice/Data connection in Guinea. A system at that location is already in place but it needs to be stabilized, and then replaced. Q13: Does Peace Corps have an idea of how much bandwidth is going to be required for each location? Describe or characterize the number of users it supports in each location? Describe or characterize the types of data applications agency users require in each location? (Some examples might be e-mail, web applications, database applications, video conferencing). Is VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) a current requirement? How many concurrent VoIP phone calls does the Peace Corps anticipate needing at each location? A13: A shared bandwidth of T-1 (digital transmission circuit) for the five (5) aforementioned sites is contemplated; however, the Govt acknowledges that satellite coverage may not apply to all sites. A minimum of 128/256kbs would be optimal for all offices to support TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol & Internet Protocol) services, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), and voice. Peace Corps contemplates having two (2) outgoing voice connections per office for voice to be terminated in Peace Corps Washington DC headquarters. Q14: Would Peace Corps be interested in learning more about a virtual Centrex (central exchange) VoIP service? A14: Peace Corps invites interested parties to offer this technology as a potential solution. Q15: Many Segovia (see "www.SegoviaIP.com") clients understand that their mission requires mobility. Please clarify whether Peace Corps has a similar requirement. Also, is Peace Corps interested in learning more about mobile capabilities for voice and data? A15: Peace Corps invites interested parties to offer this technology as a potential solution. Q16: Requirement 1.1.6.4 on page 10 of the Statement of Work references the acronym "PAMA" but does not define it. Please clarify the acronym "PAMA." This requirement also states that the "?system shall not exceed 400 milliseconds (ms) under all possible link conditions and equipment configurations." Please clarify how that delay is currently calculated and does the satellite link also include that figure. It is noted that geosynchronous satellites orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the Earth and given that distance is traveled twice for each packet, an inherent minimum latency typically is typically between 500ms to 550ms. Please clarify whether the satellite link is or is not included in that number? A16: The two basic access technology alternatives are Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Pre-Assigned Multiple Access/Demand Assigned Multiple Access (PAMA/DAMA). Peace Corps acknowledges latency over a VSAT connection is higher than normal connections; however, the agency contemplates the path to take as few transfers ("hops") as possible, in order to avoid network troubleshooting. Q17: Please clarify whether Peace Corps will consider a well-proven non-mesh TDMA alternative. A17: Peace Corps invites interested parties to offer this technology as a potential solution. NOTE: the Question and Answer period is hereby closed, and no further questions will be considered. Peace Corps continues to invite interested parties to submit a technical proposal with cost elements (see 06 NOV 2003 notice regarding submission instructions, evaluation criteria, and procurement situation) by no later than Noon (12pm local Washington DC time) on Wednesday, 03 DEC 2003. Many thanks for your interest and support of Peace Corps' mission. Happy Thanksgiving.
 

Place of Performance

Address: Peace Corps Telecommunications Systems Office, Attn PC CIO/OI/TEL Rm 3262, 1111 20th St NW, Washington DC

Zip Code: 20526

Country: USA
 

Record

SN00473763-W 20031122/031120212709 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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