32701-04678.pdf

This is Amendment #1 to Request for Proposals #32701-04678 issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for a Wireless-as-a-Service (WaaS) provider to deliver comprehensive wireless connectivity across eleven Tennessee State Parks: Fall Creek Falls, Chickasaw, Cumberland Mountain, Harrison Bay, Henry Horton, Montgomery Bell, Panther Creek, Roan Mountain, Tims Ford, Rock Island, and Cedars of Lebanon. The amendment updates and confirms the RFP schedule of events with revised dates. Key dates include the pre-response conference on October 28, 2025, a Notice of Intent to Respond deadline of October 29, 2025, written questions deadline of November 4, 2025, technical response deadline of February 3, 2026, mandatory site visits on March 17, 2026, and cost proposal submission deadline of March 31, 2026. The state will open and score cost proposals on April 1, 2026, conduct optional negotiations April 6-8, 2026, and release notice of intent to award on April 9, 2026. The protest period ends April 16, 2026, with the contractor signature deadline set for April 24, 2026, and the performance bond deadline of April 30, 2026. The contract term is sixty months with two optional thirty-month renewal periods, not to exceed one hundred twenty months total.

The RFP requires respondents to provide end-to-end network services including site surveys, network design, equipment installation, network management dashboards, twenty-four-hour technical support, and guest internet access. Evaluation will be based on general qualifications (10 points), technical qualifications and approach (60 points), and cost proposal (30 points), with only the top three technically-scored respondents invited to submit cost proposals. Respondents must hold valid Tennessee Electrician and Contractor licenses and maintain specified insurance coverage including a $10 million cyber liability insurance requirement. A $5 million performance bond is required by April 30, 2026. The RFP welcomes responses from minority-owned, women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and small business enterprises. Vendors must demonstrate robust business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities with 120-hour Recovery Point Objectives and 48-hour Recovery Time Objectives, along with SOC 2 Type 2 annual compliance audits and annual penetration testing.