14 GS09Q13DLC8554 CenturyLink Region 9 AZ NV.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Contract GS09Q13DLC8554

Region 9 AZ & NV LSA

Applicable FAR Reference: 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

This justification supports the extension of General Services Administration (GSA) Region 9

LSA Arizona and Nevada (AZ & NV) telecommunications contract with LSA-Qwest Government

Services Inc (Centurylink), GS09Q13DLC8554. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a user agency with active services on this contract requiring this extension beyond the current end date in order to complete transition to their newly awarded contracts, more specifically the following components of DHS: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Transportation

Security Agency (TSA), Federal Air Marshall’s Service (FAMS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)

The mission of DHS is noted below:

DHS is responsible for securing the nation's air, land, and sea borders to prevent illegal activity while facilitating lawful travel. The Department relies upon civilian network and internetwork service providers for vital communications services to support and carry out this mission. This mission is accomplished by many different operational and support components to achieve six overarching homeland security missions that make up DHS’s strategic plan which include:

Countering Terrorism and Homeland Security Threats; Securing U.S. Borders and Approaches;

Securing Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure; Preserving and Upholding the Nation's

Prosperity and Economic Security; Strengthening Preparedness and Resilience; and

Championing the DHS Workforce and Strengthening the Department.

The contracting activity is the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition

Service (FAS) Information Technology Category (ITC), Office of Acquisition Operations, Interagency Contracts, 1800 F Street NW Washington, DC 20405. This document serves as a justification for other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”; justified and approved in accordance with FAR 6.303 and 6.304.

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The action being approved is to extend the GS09Q13DLC8554 contract and any active Task or

Service Orders with CenturyLink for 27 months, from its current expiration date of February 28, 2024 through May 31, 2026. This extension is necessary so that the agencies served by this contract will be able to conclude their transition to their competitively awarded Enterprise

Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) task orders (see Table 2, in Section 6). Additionally, this extension

DocuSign Envelope ID: 1C5B434E-3996-4420-AF57-BCF89DAE98A5 will align this contract’s expiration date with the expiration dates of GSA’s other legacy telecommunications contracts ending on May 31, 2026.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS (including the estimated value)

The extension of the Region 9 LSA contract, GS09Q13DLC8554, is required to provide services for the agency in the charts below that receive telecommunications services provided by

CenturyLink. Specifically, this is for the sole purpose of providing additional time for these agencies to complete their transition to their previously awarded task orders under the EIS contract. The contract extension is not intended to be used for the order of new services.

Contract Ceiling: $15,021,279 Shared Ceiling among six (6) Region 9 AZ & NV LSA

Contracts (ceiling increase required, see Section 7)

Expenditure to Date: $1,129,796.99

Monthly Cost: $8,518.58

Duration: 27 Months

Total Value of Extension: $230,001.66

LSA Region 9, Contract: GS09Q13DLC8554

Contractor: CenturyLink

Requiring Agency

Active Service

Instance Records

(SIRs) for Agency

Agency's Anticipated Date for

100% Disconnected

DHS

100 05/31/2026

Table 1: Service Transition Dates

4. IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION

The statutory exception to full and open competition is issued under 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”.

5. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED

5.a. CenturyLink is the only contractor that can provide these services to these specific agencies for this particular timeframe. CenturyLink is currently the incumbent contractor for each of the agencies listed above and is providing the listed services. Agencies have awarded their Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) task orders in accordance with FAR part 16.505 and are well into their transition off of this CenturyLink contract and onto their EIS task orders.

This extension is necessary to provide enough time for the physical transition of services to the

EIS task orders. Other contractors provide the same type of service, however, it is not possible to transition the services to any other contractor faster than to the EIS contractor. Competing and awarding an additional contract or task order would create a transition inside of the transition to EIS and would seriously stall agencies’ progress in fully transitioning from this contract to EIS. As such, CenturyLink is the only contractor source who can continue to serve as the incumbent provider to these agencies while the agencies complete the process of transitioning to their new contracts.

5.b. Specific Demonstration

5.b.1 EIS Task Order Awards

As noted in section 1, DHS requires an extension of this contract and has already awarded EIS task orders using competitive procedures. DHS is transitioning from services provided on this contract to their competitively awarded EIS task orders.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) specifically the following components:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

- ICE Task Order 1 #70CTD021FR0000018 (ICE TO1) was competed and awarded to AT&T on

EIS Contract GS00Q17NSD3000 for DHS HQ Core Data on January 6, 2021.

- ICE Task Order 2 #70CTD022FR0000092 (ICE TO2) also competed and awarded the DHS

ICE Traditional Voice Requirements on Task Order to Granite Telecom on EIS Contract

GS00Q17NSD3004 on August 1, 2022.

Transportation Security Agency (TSA) & Federal Air Marshall’s Service (FAMS)

- TSA Task Order #70T03022F7667N027 (TSA TO) was competed and awarded to AT&T on

EIS Contract GS00Q17NSD3000 on August 1, 2022.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)

- USCG Task Order #HC101321F0196 (USCG TO) was competed and awarded to AT&T on

EIS Contract GS00Q17NSD3000 on August 26, 2021.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS)

- USCIS Task Order #70SBUR22F00000084 was competed and awarded to AT&T on EIS

Contract GS00Q17NSD3000 for USCIS Data and Voice Services on June 1, 2022.

5.b.2 Impact of not extending, and forcing user agencies to recompete the services currently provided on the subject contract

The extension of this contract is to support active Service Instance Records (SIRs) for user agencies so that there is not a break in service as they transition to their new EIS task orders. A

SIR typically includes information such as the customer's account number, the type of service

(i.e, analog line, Primary Rate Interface, Centrex line) that has been provisioned, the date and time the service was activated, and any other relevant details that may be needed to manage the service instance.

For example, in the case of a phone service, the SIR might include information about the customer's phone number, the type of plan they are on, and any usage limits or restrictions that apply to their account. Telecommunications service providers use SIRs to keep track of the services they are providing to their customers, to manage billing and invoicing, and to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with the service. SIRs are often integrated with other systems and databases, such as billing systems and network management systems, to provide a comprehensive view of the customer's service experience.

As part of each agency’s transition process, each SIR must first be assessed for implementation of the new service. Most SIRs will then need on-site evaluation of the facilities, wiring, interfaces and configurations to determine the required changes. Where equipment is aging or incompatible, replacement devices need to be ordered (with delayed delivery times due to chip-shortages), installed, and reconfigured.

There are currently over 520,000 active SIRs remaining on all legacy contracts supporting DHS missions, including 100 SIRs on GS09Q13DLC8554.

The 100 active SIRs provided on this contract support telecommunications for the following

DHS components and their ability to successfully perform their duties without disruption to their missions:

● ICE's primary mission is to protect national security, public safety and the integrity of the U.S. borders through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.

● TSA & FAMS protect the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.

● USCG is the Nation's premiere maritime first responder, minimizing loss of life and property by searching for and rescuing persons in distress.

● USCIS upholds America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve.

DHS components have all prepared task order solicitations that defined their requirements and then released those solicitations for fair opportunity in accordance with FAR 16.505. Proposals from EIS vendors were received and evaluated on the basis of cost and technical merit resulting in the award of new EIS task orders to transition all active SIRs off of the current contract. They are in the midst of transitioning to EIS. Additional time is required to complete these massive transition efforts. The fastest, most efficient and only feasible way to successfully transition to the competitively awarded EIS task orders is for the user agencies to be able to focus on the current transition and GSA extending this contract to allow transition completion. If GSA does not extend, and requires the user agencies to reprocure these services on a different contract, the only option the agencies would have is to award sole source contracts to the incumbent contractors because transitioning to another contractor is virtually impossible at this stage. This action would result in a transition within the original transition and would be a tremendous distraction from accomplishing the government's goal while wasting time, resources, and tax-payer money. User agencies estimate that if GSA does not extend, reprocurement efforts

(including creation of solicitation packages, through award and potential protest resolution) for their whole agency would add an additional 12-36 months to their current estimated date for completing transition (May 31, 2026).

To maintain these services, agencies would be required to engage immediately with the incumbent contractors currently providing these services to begin negotiating terms. Agencies would need to craft and obtain approval of justifications for other than full and open competition and begin sole source negotiations, including multiple acquisition packages, solicitations, negotiation of terms, and awards. The newly awarded interim solution contracts might allow for an administrative or back-office transition, which is a transition where the current provider is transitioning the same services from one contract to another to change contract and account numbers. While the administrative transition provided by the interim contract solution could afford agencies further runway to transition legacy services to the originally awarded EIS Task

Orders, it would also represent a complete duplication of the transition effort. The agencies would be conducting a transition inside a transition, performing extensive administrative transition efforts, while conducting the larger transition to the already awarded EIS Task Orders.

Additionally, transitioning to an interim solution would not reduce the timeline to EIS, and in fact, would likely delay the transition of agencies to their competitively awarded EIS task orders.

Based on the factors above, having agencies award interim solution contracts to maintain services is duplicative, administratively burdensome, and cost prohibitive. As both Government and EIS Contractor resources are pulled away to support the interim solutions contract administrative transition, the main EIS transition will become secondary, and progress will stall, further increasing risk on the agency’s services and primary transition activities. This would be a tremendously inefficient and wasteful exercise.

5.b.3 User Agency Justification Factors

This additional time is needed for many different reasons. Each agency identified different justification factors that contributed to delays in transition from GS09Q13DLC8554.

DHS

DHS cited supply chain disruptions, complexities related to modernizing services, delays related to Protest(s) and delayed award of EIS task orders as contributing factors to delays in transition from contract GS04T13BFD1604. Additionally, over a year-and-a-half was spent collecting EIS requirements across DHS in an effort to implement a department-wide solicitation. After months of additional discussion, this strategy was modified so that components were to conduct individual EIS Solicitations. In late March 2020, the DHS components began developing their own EIS Strategy.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to cause disruptions to the supply chain and were a major factor for several DHS components. Prior to COVID-19, telecommunication and network services could be provisioned by contractors faster than post-COVID orders. For instance, a 50 MB Internet Protocol Solution (IPS) in the Continental U.S. (CONUS) could be delivered in as little as 39 calendar days or as long as 550 days. The average was approximately 169 calendar days. The global chip shortage resulted in delays in the delivery of

Cisco 8000 series routers taking up to 12 months in some instances. Service-Related

Equipment (SRE) or Service Enabled Devices (SED) impacted by chip, chassis, or other equipment delays entail 6–12-months of additional time. Delivery of a complete 50 MB solution is now taking 319 calendar days, on average. Additionally, after the award of EIS task orders, site surveys were required. However, workforce shortages due to COVID-19 significantly impacted the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) support provided to the agency. As a result, there were delays in scheduling site surveys, actual circuit installations, and coordination amongst government local points of contact who were no longer physically located at the sites in some cases. This required the agency and EIS contractor to adjust in scheduling access, escort, deliveries, site surveys and inside wiring/construction, as necessary.

Transforming to a modernized service while transitioning presents an additional set of challenges for the agencies and for the EIS contractors. This means that the agency is not simply reprocuring the services they previously purchased. Instead the service is converted during the transition, such as to replace a legacy service with a newer technology, improved functionality, or expanded reach. Technical complexities due to modernizing include the transitioning of traditional broadband services into a modernized solution.

An example of complexities related to modernizing: In one instance a DHS component is modernizing and transforming via the EIS transition. The DHS component is faced with modernizing a nationwide mission critical network system with a traditional hub-spoke topology, essentially a central component that’s connected to multiple networks. Due to the unique multicast requirement, the current network design is not compatible with the component's primary operational network which uses a multipoint technology to form a full mesh network. As a result, a complex configuration of static routing ensures end-to-end communications. When the component transitions a Sector Command Center, all static tunnels need to be reconfigured.

In some cases, upwards of 80+ static tunnels need reconfiguration. It is imperative that during transition efforts, the nationwide system is not degraded to avoid risk of “loss of life.”

There were several protests that affected the award of key EIS task orders in the transition of service from this contract. The USCG TO was protested resulting in a delayed start of the transition for over 230 days. There were two primary protests and five supplemental protests of the TSA TO resulting in a 4-month delay.

Due to the supply chain disruptions, complexities related to modernizing services, delays related to Protest(s) and delayed award of EIS task orders, DHS requires additional time to minimize impacts to operations for the transition of services. For these reasons, current services from the

CenturyLink must be retained longer to avoid interruption of DHS’ mission execution.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED

FROM AS MANY SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE INCLUDING WHETHER A NOTICE WAS

OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS REQUIRED BY SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH

EXCEPTION UNDER 5.202 APPLIES.

This contract was competed in accordance with FAR Part 15 and resulted in six (6) multiple award IDIQ contracts. It was synopsized in accordance with FAR Part 5.2 at that time.

Additionally, the follow-on vehicle to provide the services under this IDIQ contract is EIS.

Transition planning dictates that all agencies using Networx, WITS 3, and Local

Telecommunications contracts will transition to EIS contracts or another vehicle. EIS was also synopsized in accordance with FAR Part 5.2 and awards were conducted with full and open competition in accordance with FAR Part 15 and resulted in nine EIS IDIQ Contracts.

CenturyLink is now Lumen and is one of the EIS contract holders. Table 2 below provides the dates when the agency components awarded their EIS task order(s) and to whom:

Agency EIS Task Order Award Date EIS Contractor

DHS - ICE TO1 01/06/2021 AT&T

DHS - ICE TO2 08/01/2022 Granite

DHS - TSA TO 08/01/2022 AT&T

DHS - USCG TO 08/26/2021 AT&T

DHS - USCIS TO 06/01/2022 AT&T

Table 2: EIS Task Order Award Dates

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

The anticipated cost of this 27 month extension is approximately $230,001.66 based on the current total monthly invoicing on this contract. As DHS continues to progress in transitioning to

EIS this number decreases GSA does not anticipate any significant increase in modern telecommunications CLIN prices for this extension. Our analysis indicates that commercial prices for modern telecommunications services have been consistently falling, making it unlikely that contractors will be able to justify any pricing increases for many services. Although some older technology services are becoming more expensive, unless a contractor primarily offers these older services, the net effect of these price increases is likely to be offset by the pricing on more modern services. In previous extensions, while there were some price increases, when taken on average, across the contracts, total pricing fell.

Every year GSA updates its commercial telecommunications pricing database using numerous sources. Each month this database is used to calculate the savings recognized by agencies using our telecommunications contracts by comparing prices paid to these commercial prices.

We recently updated the commercial price database for FY23. For comparison purposes only, we ran the fourth quarter FY22 savings using both the FY22 and FY23 commercial prices.

Because FY23 commercial prices had fallen across the board, the overall Q4FY22 savings percentage fell by several percentage points when using the new FY23 commercial prices.

While there are some commercial prices that have increased, these services do not constitute a significant enough portion of the services purchased from GSA to counteract the price decreases on other services.

This Region 9 LSA with CenturyLink has a shared contract ceiling with the other six (6) Region

9 (AZ & NV) LSA contracts in the amount of $15,021,279 and to support the extension of the

Region 9 LSAs, this shared ceiling will increase by $1,000,000 to a final shared ceiling of

$16,021,279.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS (see part

10) OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED.

GSA conducts market research for network and telecommunication services on a regular basis throughout the year. The research includes assessing vendors' business practices and pricing strategies across the industry. GSA leverages the business intelligence gathered to inform business decisions related to contract establishment and administration as part of its normal business practices. The market research and business intelligence which included customer agency input, industry expertise, and professional publications were leveraged for this effort in order for GSA to make informed decisions about extending the reference contract.

9. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION, such as: When 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in

6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived.

GSA has been working across the Federal community to assist agencies in transitioning into the competitively awarded EIS program. Transition is a long, complex process spanning multiple years. While a number of agencies have or will complete their transitions on time, several require more time. The purpose of this sole source award is to provide such agencies with additional time to complete their transition. GSA is continuing to work with these agencies and has asked OMB to provide assistance in ensuring greater progress with transition. GSA remains committed to ensuring all Federal agencies transition from the Networx and LSA contracts to EIS.

It would be a duplication of cost and effort to compete a contract to support these agencies requirements when the new contracts have already been competed and awarded (EIS). The purpose of this extension is to allow for that transition to continue and be completed.

Additionally, it is not feasible - nor possible for a different contractor to compete for, be awarded and transition the specific services currently utilized by agencies. Such an effort would require each of these agencies to devote the personnel and resources currently working on transition to the EIS task orders to switch to working on the same effort to award and then transition the existing services to a bridge contract. These same personnel and resources would then have to be immediately switched to implement a completely duplicative transition from the bridge contract to the EIS task orders. Agencies’ schedules for transitioning inventory from this contract to EIS task orders will not allow another transition from a bridge contract.

As mentioned above, the purpose of this extension is not intended to be used for agencies to order new services. All agencies are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSA in order to remain on the Networks Authorized User List (NAUL) and to use the

Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications System 3 (WITS 3), and LSA contracts through 31 May 2026. In accordance with the MOU, during this period, “... the Agency will not order any new services or changes and relocation of existing services on any of the expiring

Networx, WITS 3, and Local Service telecom contracts. The only orders the Agency may submit are those to disconnect service. In the event of exigencies that may require the Agency to order service on the expiring contracts, there are six scenarios under which the Agency may request

GSA waive the prohibition:

1. Disaster relief activities;

2. Activities necessary by law, the Constitution, for safety of human life, or for protection of property;

3. Law enforcement operations;

4. Protective functions of the U.S. Secret Service;

5. Counter-terrorism or intelligence-gathering or -dissemination capabilities;

6. Matters related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility."

10. A LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN

THE ACQUISITION

All interested parties participated in the competition of the EIS contracts by submitting a proposal and nine of them have EIS contracts to continue this work. This extension provides agencies with additional time to complete their transition from this contract to the EIS contracts.

11. A STATEMENT OF ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR

OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT

ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED

The EIS multiple award IDIQ contracts are the follow-on contracts to provide the services currently provided under this contract. GSA conducted a FAR Part 15 full and open competition to award the EIS IDIQ contracts to replace all its legacy telecommunications contracts, inclusive of GS09Q13DLC8554. On July 31, 2017, GSA awarded the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions

(EIS) contract to nine (9) contractors. CenturyLink is now Lumen and was awarded an EIS contract. The agency listed in the Table 1 under Section 3 has awarded or are in the process of awarding their EIS task orders to replace those services listed. All EIS task orders are subject to

FAR Part 16.505 fair opportunity procedures. This extension is required to provide agencies the extra time required for them to transition those services off of this contract to their EIS task order or soon to be awarded task order.

Customer agencies are responsible for their transition from the legacy contracts to EIS and are in various stages of completing transition. GSA has provided significant assistance to agencies in the years since the award of EIS to aid in each phase of the transition. Agencies planning on using the Networx, WITS 3, and LSA contracts extension periods are required to sign a MOU with GSA acknowledging that during the additional time period, agencies will have responsibility to transition all remaining services to EIS or another acquisition solution or implement a contingency plan by May 31, 2026.

GSA has had limited information and visibility into agencies’ transition progress in the past. The

MOU for agencies using extensions from June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2026 requires increased transparency and monitoring on agency transition status. Increased visibility will encourage agencies to transition faster and allow agencies to recognize earlier that contingency plans must be implemented by the customer agency to avoid disconnects after May 31, 2026.

GSA is not a mandatory source for the telecom services and agencies have the option to choose the procurement vehicle that best suits their needs. GSA does not have the authority to hold agencies accountable to meet the agencies’ transition plan deadlines, however, GSA has no intention of considering further extension of this contract. Any further sole source procurement needs will be executed by customer agencies’ Contracting Officers if needed.

Lastly, to minimize or eliminate the need for non competitive extensions in the future, GSA will apply transition lessons learned to all EIS follow on procurement activities.

12. CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVALS

TECHNICAL PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the supporting data for this Justification for Other than Full and Open

Competition, was the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or schedule requirements or other rationale for other than full and open competition). The supporting data provided and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

___________________________ Date: _______________________

GSA Technical Representative

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL:

I certify that this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, in accordance with

FAR 6.302-1, is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that a brand name is justified and reasonably available.

GSA Contracting Officer

Approvals:

Competition Advocate for ITC

7/18/2023

7/18/2023

7/19/2023