GS-35F-247DA-001.docx

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* = Required Field FedBizOpps Award Notice Rev. March 2010 D MOD - Sprint bridge 07724 36C10B19Q0053 N 517312 Department of Veterans Affairs Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown NJ 07724 George Govich;

george.govich@va.gov

GS-35F-247DA 36C10B19F0036

$267,879.30 10-31-2018

A & T SYSTEMS, INC.

153870530

12200 TECH RD STE 200

SILVER SPRING

MD

20904 On October 31, 2018, task order 36C10B19F0036 was issued as a sole source, firm-fixed-price (FFP) task order (TO) conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program. Task order 36C10B19F0036 was awarded under the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) GS-35F-247DA for the procurement of brand name Sprint wireless voice, data plans, and other services for VA employees to A&T Systems, Silver Spring, MD in the amount of $535,758.60. This announcement is to provide award notification and post the Limited-Sources Justification.

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a sole source, firm-fixed-price (FFP) task order (TO) being conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program; the proposed effort will be awarded under the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) GS-35F-247DA for the procurement of brand name Sprint wireless voice, data plans, and other services for VA employees.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The proposed action is for the acquisition of wireless Sprint voice, data plans, and other services for currently deployed mobile devices for approximately 4,500 VA employees located in 12 facilities. These 12 sites include Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (VAMC), Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, Edward Hines Jr. VAMC, John Cochran VAMC, Bay Pine VAMC, Orlando VAMC, West Palm Beach VAMC, Cincinnati VAMC, Cleveland VAMC, Louisville VAMC, Minneapolis VAMC, and Clement J. Zablocki VAMC. VA is seeking a continuation of the services currently deployed to facilitate transition of lines to new wireless carriers on the recently competed Department of the Navy (DON), Department of Defense (DoD) and Government-Wide Agencies Wireless Services Program, Spiral 3 (DON Spiral 3) task orders. The current Sprint services include basic cell phones, smartphones, push to talk (PTT), hotspot, broadband devices, and wireless priority service. The Period of Performance will be November 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 with one 2-month option period.

4. Statutory Authority: This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program. The specific authority providing for a limited source award is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), “Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.”

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: The proposed source for this action is A&T Systems, 12200 Tech Road, Suite 100, Silver Spring, MD 20904-7871. Sprint is the only carrier that can provide the wireless services on currently deployed mobile devices due to the proprietary Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Card that are provisioned on each device. Once purchased and activated, mobile cellular devices and services are locked into a specific carrier device SIM Card. Access to Sprint’s proprietary data is required to provide the coverage on these devices. Also, Sprint is the only source that can provide the wireless services with the required -100 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) minimum signal strength for interior locations as many of these sites have Sprint signal enhancers, such as antennas and repeaters currently installed, which allow an adequate signal to penetrate the buildings. Only Sprint devices can detect this signal due to the Sprint SIM card inside the device.

A&T is the only source that possesses the technical capability to provide the wireless services on currently deployed mobile devices without a service interruption. The existing A&T Systems technical support and web portal application provides support for VA customers utilizing a Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software platform to process all service calls, tickets, and service orders initiated by VA authorized POCs. It provides a comprehensive view of VA mobile assets under VA management. The A&T Systems portal provides a seamless platform that is a key component for service transitions and overall management of devices and services. No other carrier can provide this service prior to designing and engineering a comparable management platform.

A&T was one of three contract holders on VA’s National Mobile Devices and Service (NMDS) contract, a multiple award IDIQ ordering vehicle. Over the course of the five-year ordering period under NMDS, TO level competitions were held and A&T was awarded several TOs for VA regional level voice and data plan requirements. The NMDS basic contracts have since expired and VA competitively awarded two TOs to T-Mobile USA (T-Mobile) and AT&T Mobility (AT&T) on August 20, 2018 for Enterprise Mobile Devices and Services (EMDS) utilizing the DON Spiral 3 IDIQ contract. As a result, the approximately 4,500 VA users currently receiving Sprint wireless services will need to be transitioned to either T-Mobile or AT&T. Consequently, significant transition time is required to meet VA’s needs. Specifically, VA functional requirements for voice and data coverage include providing a reliable service coverage, defined as signal strength, reported in dBm, of not less than -100 dBm in interior locations for the 12 sites. The -100 dBm minimum requirement ensures mobile device user’s uninterrupted recurring air-time services. Without achieving signal strength of -100 dBm inside the VAMCs, hospitals, and CBOCs, the devices will not meet VA’s functional requirements. The voice and data features to be included in the proposed TO are relied upon by physicians, therapists, nurses, and campus policing units throughout these sites to coordinate, respond to, treat, and interact with patients and colleagues while delivering benefits and care to Veterans. Failure to provide the -100 dBm minimum requirement for interior locations will result in these health care professionals not having the capabilities of assured communications and data/information sharing to provide uninterrupted and timely care to Veterans.

VA will require significant time to fully transition from Sprint to T-Mobile and AT&T because the internal signal strength must not be less than -100 dBm in interior locations for the 12 sites. VA has completed testing at these locations and the results determined that AT&T and T-Mobile must improve their signal strength. Where neither T-Mobile nor AT&T have an adequate signal to penetrate the buildings, they are required to take measures and implement changes to enhance the signal within 120 business days. As such, mitigation and engineering actions are currently being designed, implemented, and deployed. Testing prior to task order awards was precluded because it was not feasible to coordinate contractor testing at the over 2,500 sites (in the overall VA requirement), most of which are dynamic medical environments with limited information technology personnel. Additionally, the number of sites that required transition was not known until the task orders were awarded and VA could not have anticipated the number of facilities that will require enhancements from a new Contractor (either T-Mobile or AT&T) to get the coverage to meet our interior location requirements. Moreover, VA could not have commenced assessing a contractor’s ability to meet our interior location needs until the contractors were selected for award. Accordingly, once the competitive TO awards were made, the VA immediately commenced its assessment of the awardees’ interior dBm needs.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in the market research section of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. There is no competition anticipated for this acquisition. In accordance with FAR 5.301 and 8.405-6(a)(2), the award notice for this action will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website and this justification will be made publicly available within 14 days of award.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: No barriers to future competition are anticipated. VA competitively awarded two TOs to T-Mobile and AT&T on August 20, 2018 in support of EMDS utilizing the DON Spiral 3 IDIQ contract. These TOs will provide cellular and wireless services and devices for VA throughout the 50 United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands. However, VA will need additional time to transition from Sprint to T-Mobile and AT&T. Testing has been completed and VA anticipates significant decreases in the amount of lines that need continued service prior to exercising an option period as some sites are already starting to transition to T-Mobile or AT&T.

8. Market Research: Market research was conducted in October 2018 to ascertain if any other sources could meet VA’s needs. Specifically, a Request for Information (RFI) released on GSA, internet searches, and product descriptions of similar items and services were reviewed. VA received three RFI responses from Sprint, A&T Systems, and Manhattan Telecommunications. The Government’s technical experts reviewed the responses from Sprint and Manhattan Telecommunications and determined that while these sources provide similar services, they could not meet all of VA’s requirements as outlined in Section 5 of this Justification.

In addition, the Government’s technical experts conducted market research by performing onsite testing of devices provided by T-Mobile and AT&T. The results showed that T-Mobile and AT&T cannot meet VA’s functional signal strength requirement and they have 120 business days to enhance their signal dependent on the complexity of the required coverage resolution. Therefore, Sprint is the only carrier that can meet VA’s functional requirements at this time and only A&T Systems possesses the technical capability to provide services without a service interruption.

9. Other Facts: None.