Responses for Questions Received After Pre-Proposal Telecon.doc

QUESTIONS RELATED TO LOCAL SERVICES REQUISITION – 2 (LSA-2)

Please note, some questions were received prior to the Pre-Proposal Teleconference on Wednesday, August 19, 2009. The questions received in advance were answered during the teleconference. These questions with responses are included in the notes posted on FedBizOpps.

The questions received as requested no later than 4:00pm, Monday, August 24, 2009 are as follows:

1. C.5.2, 1st para - How will ownership of internal building cable in GSA buildings be identified? Are we to assume all cable beyond the demarcation point is GSA owned?

RESPONSE: Please reference Figure B.7.2.1 in the solicitation. This figure depicts the different SDPs when the provider does not own any cable past the NID (SDP1). SDP1 is frequently referred to as the Demarcation Point which is often defined as where the telephone company ends and connects to the customer’s wiring.

In some cases a provider, usually the ILEC, will own the cable to the wire closet which would normally be SDP4. However, if the provider (telephone company) owns the cable to the wire closet, the wire closet now becomes SDP1 for this provider. This is where the provider’s ownership ends. Hopefully the providers will know if the ILEC owns the cable or not. If there is a question as to who owns the cable, the provider should contact the GDR, ADR, or COTR as appropriate for an answer.

2. Will the GSA please extend the due date for this response to 11/16/09 to enable all offerors to adequately respond to the volume of pricing required for this solicitation?

RESPONSE: No, extending the due date will not permit a timely award and subsequent transition to the new contract.

3. L.14.2, General Instructions, 1st paragraph - Will the GSA consider elimination of hard copies for this LSA II submission in an effort to help all offerors support the GSA's Going Green initiatives? If hard copies are required, will the Government consider allowing offerors to print the required hard copies on two-sides of the paper in order to save on paper volume and cost?

RESPONSE: Hard copies are required because in the past GSA has experienced difficulty printing some electronic files provided by offerors. However, two-sided printing is certainly acceptable.

4. In response to a question asked during the pre proposal conference, please confirm that offerors may submit separate price workbooks – one for each state (TX, OK, AR).

RESPONSE: Offerors must respond to the current aggregated needs in the award area. There are three different award areas in this procurement. A separate workbook that contains the pricing for a specific award area will meet the requirement. Please note, only 3 separate rate groups are allowed for each of the separate award areas.

5. B.7.2.12 Pricing Sheet - Would GSA specify some examples of what type of services would apply to "Hourly Labor Rate"?

RESPONSE: There are basic examples in the table. Since this question came from one of the offerors that currently provides essentially the same service for one or more of the existing local service contracts, GSA believes the contractor should be able to determine if the hourly rates being currently offered are at the correct rate(s). If this offeror, or any offeror, has a need to break down a rate or offer an additional rate(s) to more effectively bill the charges, include the rates in the table with “TBD” (To Be Determined) in place of a CLIN.

6. G.4.1.1, 4th para - "The contractor receiving the order will invoice for the entire service and/or features to include service(s) provided by other vendors". Please provide examples of services/features that could be provided by other vendors.

RESPONSE: The Government has no way of knowing what other services or features the contractor will provide through the use of other vendors. The contractor is expected to make this determination. Keep in mind, we are asking for services currently being provided to commercial customers. If the offeror is currently in the telecommunications business, hopefully the offeror is aware of what the offeror must provide directly or though the use of another vendor.

7. H.5, 1st para - Please define the term "unlimited" as described in this section. Also for clarity purposes, please provide an example to better explain since there could be multiple interpretations of this requirement.

RESPONSE: The meaning of “unlimited” in this paragraph takes into consideration for the conditions contained in the solicitation. Basically the conditions are based on acceptable reliability. Please reference: C.2.1, C.11.2.b, C.7.1, F.3 (Item 7), F.4.1, Table F.4.1-b, G.4.1.7, G.5.2.2, and G.5.2.3.

8. B.2 Prices, 3rd para - The statement "All current and future NPA/NXXs in the same exchange area will be in the same rate group." Does this mean that all NPA-NXXs in a particular Central Office will have the same rate group?

RESPONSE: If all of the NPA-NXXs in the central office are in the same exchange area, they will be in the same rate group.

9. B.7.2.1 through B.7.2.4 – Services Offer, 2nd para, 2nd sentence - Should 001J have been 001K?

RESPONSE: Reference the services in Table B.7.2.1, B.7.2.1 and B.7.2.6 in the Price Schedules.

10. G.2.2 Fair Opportunity Process, 1st para - "If there is more than one contractor that can perform at a location, the GDR or the ADR will give fair opportunity to the contractors for all orders under this contract as described herein." In this reference, please define the word "location" as used.

RESPONSE: This was explained in the teleconference. Location is a customer address. For those of you with current local service contracts in place this is no change. You may know it as a GSA worksite or worksite address.

11. B.7.2.1 - Will GSA amend the spreadsheet to include the monthly rate columns?

RESPONSE: Yes. But, since the fix consists of the simple change “SIC” under the “Recurring Line Charge” to “Monthly,” please do so to preclude any delay in completion of your offer. Please note, there are only 3 “SICs” that need to be changed to read “Monthly.”

12. If the contractor wanted to propose new products due to the emerging technologies, how could they do it and still be in compliance with Section C.2, Service Platform outlined in the solicitation? The clause states, “the services offered shall be such as to obviate the need for the Government to purchase common service customer premise equipment.” With such new technology/products additional equipment is required to ensure complete functionality.

RESPONSE: This procurement, as with others in the past, is to meet current requirements. As new requirements have come along, the contracts have been modified to meet these requirements.

However, one thing GSA has always been mindful of is cost. With the limits on budgets received by GSA customers, how would new technologies be purchased within a budget year? Changing to new technologies often incurs a “capital investment” which almost always exceeds a single year’s budget. Agencies cannot obligate funds not yet approved, i.e. the budget for a future year(s). A good technology example may be VOIP. Most of the technologies offered for business involve the procurement of expensive CPE as well as transition charges and monthly recurring costs. A single annual budget would not cover the cost to transition. And, as far as VOIP, Region 7 would need approval to include it in a Regional service procurement.