Amendment 1.rtf

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SAP

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State of South Carolina

Fixed Price Bid (Amendment 1)

Solicitation:

Amendment Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400022592 1/10/2022

KATHY SANTANDREU

803-896-5304 ksantandreu@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services, MMO 1201 Main Street, Suite 600 Columbia SC 29211

DESCRIPTION: Technical and Regulatory Telecommunications and Broadband Consulting Services USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 01/13/2022 11:00 AM ET (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision) QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 12/29/2021, 11:00 AM ET (See "Questions From Offerors" provision) NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: Submit 1 hard copy of your online submission to the address above by the due date and time. No late submissions will be accepted.

CONFERENCE TYPE: Not applicable

DATE & TIME:

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Not applicable

AWARD & AMENDMENTS

Award will be posted on 01/18/2022. The award, this solicitation, any amendments, and any related notices will be posted at the following web address: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of sixty (60) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision) Amendment No.

Amendment Issue Date Amendment No.

Amendment Issue Date Amendment No.

Amendment Issue Date Amendment No.

Amendment Issue Date

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause) 10 Calendar Days (%) 20 Calendar Days (%) 30 Calendar Days (%) _____Calendar Days (%)

PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009): Preferences do not apply

PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE: Preferences do not apply

____In-State Office Address same as Home Office Address ____In-State Office Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004) (modified): (a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov(b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two and returning with solicitation response (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged.

Questions from Offerors - amendment (Jun 2017) The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “state’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential Offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does. Any restatement of part or all of an existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2a097-1]

Combined Vendor Questions:

On page 15, the bid states that the ORS has limited engineering capabilities and that ORS may coordinate with the Contractor and the local government to create detailed designs for implementation. Would this detailed design work be outside of this scope of work for consulting?

With respect to broadband planning, ORS will, from time-to-time, work with local leaders to craft high-level plans for broadband infrastructure deployment. Since ORS has limited engineering capabilities, ORS may coordinate with the Contractor and the local government to create detailed designs for implementation. If ORS directly engages the Contractor, any design work is within the scope of this consulting agreement. Conversely, if the local government plays the lead role and directly engages Contractor, the design work will be outside the scope of this agreement. In some situations, ORS may pay for a portion of the overall design work and only that portion will be within the scope of the agreement.

In addition to technical network designs, ORS is also interested in working with Contractors that have extensive telecommunications background and experience developing statewide broadband plans. This would include full content development, technical writing, graphic design, and the possible production of bound print materials. Any work by Contractor in this area would be withing the scope of this agreement.

For Scope #6, just to clarify, are you asking whether Talman is willing and able to explain our work on behalf of ORS to various government entities? Or are you looking for an expert, beyond engineering?

ORS, from time-to-time, engages Contractors that are willing to act as an expert witness and testify before governmental entities and/or legislative leaders. And for any Contractor, ORS is looking for contractors willing to explain their work before entities described in Scope #6. The type of entity that would do onsite inspections and strategic planning for broadband deployment is not necessarily the same entity that would provide the work outlined in other parts of this agreement. We welcome Contractors that are willing to do one or more pieces of the work outlined.

On page 33, for the bidding schedule of the document, do you need a rate and line item for each service provided by scope of work or is this a combined “all in” bid and up to the contractor to allocate time and summarize as one line item?

Since the overall scope of work is unknown at this time, ORS would simply like the hourly rates Contractor would charge based upon the different types of work being performed. Please note that the overall rate for any service may not exceed $150/hr.

Is this bid based on the assumption of 25 hours per week (not to exceed) and 1300 hours total or is this an estimate/example? What happens if time exceeds?

ORS is removing the 25 hour per week limitation on page 33; however, we are retaining the overall limit of $250,000 per year.

Is the regulatory aspect (SOW #6) included in the 25/1300 hours?

All regulatory work is included in the overall scope of the Contractor’s agreement on an annual basis.

Are there production expectations, for example number of locations visited per week, number of reports per weeks?

The specific Statements of Work have not been defined at this time. Project specifics such as production expectations, will be detailed in the mutually agreed upon SOW at a later date.

Modifications to the RFP:

ORS is removing the 25 hour per week limitation.

BIDDING SCHEDULE (NOV 2007)

Cost of qualified consultants to perform technical and regulatory telecommunications consulting and broadband consulting services should not exceed $150 per hour.

Please complete the bidding schedule below. It is preferred that information be typed, but if not typed, please write legibly. Offerors must enter the rate they will charge for their services. Offerors have the option to submit lower rates. Any offers received at rates that exceed the maximum may be rejected as non-responsive. Submit the completed form with your bid response packet.

Line Number Estimated yearly Quantity Unit of Measure Rate hour Item Description: Consultant for technical and regulatory telecommunications and broadband services at an average of 25 hours per week (combined for all contractors -not 25 hours a week per contractor.

BIDS RECEIVED AFTER AWARD -- FIXED PRICE BIDDING (MODIFIED)

Offerors not responding to the initial solicitation may be added to the awarded vendors list provided the bidder furnishes evidence of responsibility and responsiveness to the state's original fixed price bid (and any amendments and/or change orders) as authorized by the solicitation.

Bids received after the initial awards will be reviewed and awarded, if requirements of the solicitation have been met, approximately on 02/11/2022 and 02/25/2022. After 2/25/2022 bids received will be reviewed and awarded approximately every year quarter. However, the State will review bids and process awards at their discretion. Offerors should submit an email to the procurement officer listed on the Cover Page upon the electronic submission of a bid after the initial opening date stating that bid has been submitted. The subject line of this email MUST include: Solicitation name and number, and words “new submittal”.

The scheduled due dates for additional bid reviews are as follows:

June 30, 2023 September 29, 2023 December 15, 2023 March 29, 2024 June 28, 2024 September 27, 2024 December 13, 2024

March 28, 2025

June 27, 2025 September 26, 2025 December 12, 2025 March 27, 2026 June 26, 2026 September 25, 2026

To be considered Offeror must upload their submittal into the system and send their hard copy to this office no earlier than two weeks in advance of the above due dates and no later than the due date itself. Any awards made should be posted 1-2 weeks after due date.

All other terms, condition, bidding instruction, and specifications remain unchanged. If there are any question or if any confusion or uncertainty arises as a result of this amendment, it is the sole responsibility of the Offeror to contact the procurement officer for clarification. Contact information can be found in the top right-hand corner of the cover page of this amendment reference the “Duty to Inquire” in the original Fixed Price Bid (FPB).