Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), Office of Information Technology, Technology Policy, Planning and Acquisitions Office, IT Contracting, 1 Columbus Circle NE, Room 3-170, Washington, DC 20544

D -- INTERNET SERVICE WITH EXCLUSIVE DS3 LOCAL CONNECTIION, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA SOL 5thC-99-R-01 DUE 110498 POC Penny Starliper, Contracting Office, 202-208-7550 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This is Request for Proposal Number 5thC-99-R-01. This solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-05. The Standard Industrial Code (SIC) is 4813; the size standard is 1500 employees. This contract will begin upon the date of signature by the Contracting Officer and shall remain in effect for twelve months. The Court has the option to extend this contract for up to four, twelve-month optional periods. The Court may exercise this option by written notice to the Contractor not later than ten calendar days prior to expiration of the contract; provided, that the Court shall give the Contractor a preliminary notice of its intentto extend at least 60 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Court to an extension. The Internet Service Prvider (ISP) shall provide the following: The ISP shall provide an exclusive DS3 local connection provision on a fiber SONET ring. The SONET ring must provide full redundancy from the Court's address (New Orleans, LA) to the provider's facilities. This includes separate conduits leaving the customer's facility for each of the two redundant fiber connections. Any additiional hardware/software or cabling required to provide the service shall be provided by the ISP. The service must be available for acceptance testing at the Court within 60 calendar days from the date of award. Acceptance testing will consist of the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) performing connectivity and throughput tests to ensure that the service is fully operational. The services will not be accepted until the COTR sends a confirmation letter to the Contractor. The ISP will also provide multiple, redundant DS3 connections from their local presence in the New Orleans area to their backbone and the Internet. The ISP must provide its own facilities; have its own installation and maintenance technicians; provide repair service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and provide a single point of contact for contract administration, technical design assistance, trouble calls, billing, ordering, and sales support. Maintenance shall consist of the following procedure: A technician may contact the end user to verify, isolate, and trouble shoot the reported problem. Occasionally, the end user may be asked to assist with testing the service, and should be familiar with the physical location of the Contractor's communications equipment on site. The Contractor will contact the organization that called in the trouble. A second follow-up repair status will be provided four hours after the trouble has been reported. The Contractor will provide status daily to the United States Court for any service outage not restored within 24 hours. The Contractor will also contact the Court upon problem resolution to verify repair and close the trouble ticket. The ISP shall have established private peering arrangements to alleviate the traffic congestion associated with accessing MAE East and West and the actual Internet backbone. The ISP shall proactively monitor the network not less frequently than every 15 minutes to determine utilization and connectivity. The ISP shall provide a mechanized system accessible through the World Wide Web that allows the customer to track and print reports on such aspects as average utilization and peak utilization of network links and errors. Delivery shall be F.O.B. destination, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, New Orleans, LA, 70130 WITHIN 60 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF AWARD. Solicitation provisions at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items (Aug 1998) applies to this acquisition. The solicitation will close on November 4, 1998, at 2:00 p.m., EST. Offers will be evaluatedper FAR Provision 52.212-2, Evaluation -- Commercial Items. Specific evaluation criteria includes: (1) Technical capability of the service to meet the Government's requirement (including, but not limited to, information regarding support staff experience, capability, training, certification, etc. and an explanation of how much Internet backbone band width the offeror has and how it will support this effort), (2) Past Performance. Evaluation of past performance shall be based on information provided by the offeror and/or through other sources (i.e., offeror's performance on previously awarded contracts with other Government or commercial entities). The offeror must identify at least five references from Federal, state, or local governments and/or commercial contracts for which the offeror has performed work similar to the size and statement of work in this solicitation. References must include the most recent contracts completed within the last two years. The offeror shall provide point of contact, currenttelephone number, and fax number for each contract. This list must be included with your offer. (3) Price -- The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the options. This is a best-value evaluation. Technical superiority is just as important as cost. However, the Government may not necessarily award to the lowest priced offer. The offeror shall include a completed copy of the provisions at 52.212-3 (JAN 1997),Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with offer. Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items (April 1998) is incorporated by reference. Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items (June 1998) is hereby incorporated by reference. The following paragraphs of that clause apply to this solicitation and any resultant contract: (a), (b), (1), (8), (9), (10), (d), and (e). All responsible sources may submit an offer which will be considered. Offers are to be submitted to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, One Columbus Circle, N.E., OIT/TPPA/ITC, Suite 3-170, Washington, D.C. 20544, Attention: Penny Starliper, by November 4, 1998. For information regarding this solicitation, please contact Penny Starliper at (202) 208-7550.***** Posted 10/15/98 (W-SN262216). (0288)

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