Pre-Submission_Meeting_Notes_.docx

Cell Phone Services for the U.S. Mission in Maputo Notes of the Pre-bid Meeting

The U.S. Embassy in Maputo held a pre-proposal meeting at 2:00pm on Thursday, the March 8, 2nd Floor –USAID Office, JAT Complex, Rua 1231, No. 41 Bairro Central C. Maputo.

Meeting participants:

· MCel: Avelino Macatane and Jose Fonseca.

· Movitel: Thuy Nguyen Bich and Aleixo Paunde;

· Vodacom: Miguel Chissano, Maria Quibe, Amarildo Pascoal and Alberto Cumaio

· U.S. Embassy: Adam Wallingford, Melissa Chipili, Earl Bradbury, Domingos Sambo, Aissa Ibraimo and Fernando João.

Tender Briefly Explanation:

The meeting started with a briefly explanation of the contract and attendees were informed about the scope of work, emphasizing that the contract will have a minimum of 500 cellphone lines and maximum of 800 cellphone lines. The contract duration will be ONE year, with four additional option years that may be exercised at the convenience of the Embassy.

Questions and Answers:

1. Does the contract require only 75 headsets for year one?

No. On Base year the U.S. Embassy estimates purchasing 297 iPhone or equal telephones, and on 75 in each of the subsequent option years. The estimated quantities should not be considered a contract minimum or guarantee of purchase. The Embassy estimates that it will purchase that number of phones over the contract year, likely in smaller quantities on a recurring basis.

2. Clarifications about International Calls?

The 2400 Minutes is an estimated number of combined minutes across all lines for international calls over the contract year. The same per-minute rate should be charged for any of the lines of any plan.

3. Is it possible to split packages for people who travel more and less users?

No, the proposal must follow the bid package proposed by U.S.A Embassy on solicitation document.

4. Can Extra benefits be added on the proposal?

Yes, it will be acceptable if extra benefits are added on each supplier proposal, but should be included as additional information and not included in the price table. Each vendor should complete and submit the price table exactly as provided, and may attach additional information with a package submittal.

5. Billing: Should the invoices be separated into multiple Agencies in the contract?

No, the U.S. Embassy requires that service providers submit only one detailed bill; the separation per Agencies will be done internally. The detailed bill must comply with section 1.9.1 of the contract.

6. Bidding due date: 28th March 2018.

7. Do you expect vendors to build proposal which includes equipment? Only the equipment stated in the pricing table will be purchased under the contract. The U.S. Embassy will buy the equipment based on the rates provided in the resulting contract.

8. Prepaid SIM Cards, how the Embassy will load them?

The Embassy requests prepaid SIM cards registered in its name. While it is ideal if they do not become unregistered due to inactivity, it is not required. If they become unregistered due to inactivity, the Embassy will contact the provider to activate them.

9. What happen if the users exceed the 20,000 minutes?

20,000 minutes was the estimated overage for all lines over one contract year of service. The price for these minutes should be guaranteed and fixed regardless of the amount of overage, and which line incurs the overage.

10. Blackberries still an option? The contract states that we are soliciting iPhones or equal. More information may be found in Appendix A.

11. Do you accept some recommendation? If a vendor has a suggested edit or change to the solicitation or requirements, they may submit it to the contracting officer. All questions asked will be responded to, and the answers distributed to all interested parties and posted on FedBizOpps.

12. Is the number of devices mentioned in solicitation to be provided at once? No. The estimated quantities should not be considered a contract minimum or guarantee of purchase. The Embassy estimates that it will purchase that number of phones over the contract year, likely in smaller quantities on a recurring basis.

13. The 500 minutes referred on the TOR´s are for all local mobile networks?

Yes. The minutes should include calls to any mobile network or landline telephone within Mozambique.

14. After tender results in how much days must the operator deliver the service/product?

The service start date is June 1, 2018.

15. Can we add a column in your original table for “description”?

Yes.

16. In Regard to the international roaming calls, the estimate minutes are for received or originated calls?

The estimated roaming minutes includes both outgoing and incoming calls, and both should be charged at the same roaming rate.

Additional information:

a) Suppliers were advised to early start the registration on SAM Registration online, instructions will be send at COB today by Domingos Sambo to all suppliers.;

b) The U,S Embassy cannot specify a single model of the phone to be purchased under the contract , but is requesting an iPhone or equal as specified in Appendix A.