Attachment A - Performance Work Statement.pdf

Attachment A

USAGM Performance Work Statement

(PWS)

" 1 x 400 Mbps Microwave Point-to-Point (P2P) Internet Service at USAGM Transmitting Station, Kuwait”

1. Background

The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Kuwait Transmitting Station (KTS) is a broadcasting facility responsible for transmitting U.S. Government programming to international audiences. The station receives program content via Internet-based delivery, making continuous and reliable connectivity essential to maintaining uninterrupted broadcast operations.

2. Objectives

This requirement is for a dedicated, symmetrical 400 Mbps Internet circuit delivered via microwave link, which will interface directly with USAGM network systems to provide a reliable communications path for program delivery and station operations.

Loss of Internet connectivity directly results in loss of broadcast capability. Therefore, this service is considered mission-critical infrastructure required to ensure continuity of U.S. Government broadcasting operations in support of U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic objectives

3. Description of service

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, materials, licensing, installation, testing, and support necessary to provide a 400 Mbps symmetrical, dedicated Internet circuit via microwave link to the USAGM Kuwait Transmitting Station.

The microwave communications path shall interface with USAGM network systems at the Government-designated demarcation point and must be engineered to ensure high reliability, availability, and performance under extreme environmental conditions, including heat, dust, and humidity.

The service shall function as a mission-critical communications path supporting continuity of broadcasting operations (COOP) and must remain available during primary circuit degradation or outage events.

4. General Instructions

Contractor shall install Microwave antennas at USAGM Kuwait Transmitting Station (KTS). The antennas must have an uninterrupted line of sight (LOS) at both locations.

The Contractor shall prepare written general instructions for the service to be provided to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The Contractor shall provide drafts to the (COR) for review within 60 days after contract award.The Contracting Officer’s Representative must approve these general instructions before issuance.

5. Specific Tasks

5.1 Bandwidth and Engineering Requirements

• Provide 400 Mbps symmetrical (upload/download) bandwidth

• Microwave radio system and associated backhaul shall sustain full throughput with a minimum 70% link margin under worst-case environmental conditions

• Oversubscription of microwave backhaul is not permitted

• Monthly service availability shall be ≥ 99.97%

5.2 IP Addressing Requirements

The Contractor shall provide:

• Twenty four (24) private IP addresses (RFC1918)

• A statically routed subnet delivered to the Government demarcation point

• All IP addresses shall be simultaneously usable

• No Network Address Translation (NAT) or Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) is permitted

• IP addresses shall remain persistent for the life of the contract

• Renumbering shall not occur without prior written approval from the Contracting Officer

5.3 Installation and Integration

• Install and configure all microwave, transport, and edge equipment

• Coordinate all installation activities with the USAGM Contracting Officer’s Representative

(COR)

• Clearly identify and label the network demarcation point

• All equipment upstream of the demarcation point shall remain Contractor-owned and maintained

5.4 Network Architecture Documentation

The Contractor shall provide:

• Identification of upstream service providers

• Local Kuwait Point of Presence (POP) exchange map

• Logical and physical path diagrams to international upstream providers

• End-to-end path diagram to Washington, DC, or designated USAGM hub

5.1 Contractor is responsible for applying and obtaining license for the microwave frequency link from BNetzA – Ministry of Communication, Kuwait. The current assigned frequency and the in production 200 Mbit/s P2P WLL connection are mission critical and may not be interrupted or changed.

5.2 Contractor is responsible to provide the requested service 400 Mbit/s P2P WLL when the period of performance (POP) begins. This requires that the hardware installation and measurements must be done prior to the POP start.

5.3 Provide a Service Level Agreement. The Service Level Agreement should have performance objectives and performance commitments for Availability, Latency, Packet Loss and Average and Maximum Jitter and Customer Notification. If the levels of service do not meet, specify minimum parameters.

5.5 Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The Contractor shall meet or exceed the following minimum performance standards:

Metric Requirement Availability ≥ 99.97% monthly Latency ≤ 80 ms (regional), ≤ 150 ms (international) Packet Loss ≤ 0.1% Jitter ≤ 10 ms Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) ≤ 4 hours

Failure to meet SLA thresholds may result in contractual remedies as defined in the contract.

6. Service Support and Contingencies

The awarded Contractor must warrant service support twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week (7 X 24 X 365).

The Contractor must provide service support on site 7 X 24 X 365. Services must be coordinated directly with USAGM's Contracting Officer's Representative (COR).

Expected service availability and reliability must be at a minimum 99.97%.

The awarded Contractor must provide a central Information Technology (IT) point of contact (POC) in order to promptly coordinate technical issues during the initial installation process.

7. Contract type

This is a firm fixed-price commercial items type contract, payable entirely in United States Dollars

(USD).

8. Place of Performance

Work will be performed at the following locations:.

USAGM Kuwait Transmitting Station, Al Mutla, Kuwait.

9. Key Personnel

9.1 The Contractor shall designate a representative Point of Contact (POC) / Project Manager who shall be responsible for regular maintenance. This POC shall be the focal point for the Contractor with U.S. Government personnel.

The POC / Project Manager shall have 5 or more years of experience as network engineer, CISCO experience and technical knowledge in WLL technology as well as English language skills to be able to communicate with members of the U.S.

Government staff. Preferable CISCO, CCNA or BA degree in IT related area, plus 5 years of experience in related environment.

9.2 The Contractor shall make no diversion to the contract without the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) written consent.

10. Period of Performance

The estimated period of performance for this contract is listed below:

Transition Phase: August 26, 2026 to September 25, 2026 Base Period: September 26, 2026 to August 25, 2027 Option Year 1: August 26, 2027 to August 25, 2028 Option Year 2 August 26, 2028 to August 25, 2029 Option Year 3: August 26, 2029 to August 25, 2030 Option Year 4: August 26, 2030 to August 25, 2031

11. Invoicing and paying instructions

Invoices will be handled in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act FAR 52.232-25. The Contractor shall submit their original invoice and one copy to the designated billing address indicated in this contract. The COR will determine if the invoice is complete and accurate as submitted. The COR also will determine if billed services have been satisfactorily performed and if reimbursable expenses billed (if any) are correct. If it is determined that the amount billed is incorrect, the COR will, within seven calendar days, request the Contractor to submit a revised invoice.

The Contractor shall submit all invoices under this contract electronically through the U.S.

Government Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) at https://www.ipp.gov for payment processing.

https://www.ipp.gov/

12. Technological Refreshment

The Contractor may propose for the Government's technological refreshment, substitutions or additions for any provided products or services that may become available as a result of technological improvements. The Government may, at any time during the term of this contract or any extensions thereof, modify the contract to acquire products which are similar to those under the contract and that the Contractor has, or has not, formally announced for marketing purposes.

This action is considered to be within the scope of the contract. At the option of the Government, a demonstration of the substitute product may be required. The Government is under no obligation to modify the contract in response to the proposed additions or substitutions.

Such substitutions or additions may include any part of, or all of, a given product(s) provided that the following conditions are met and substantiated by documentation in the technological refreshment proposal:

a) The proposed product(s) shall meet all the technical specifications of this document and conform to the terms and conditions cited in the contract.

b) The proposed product(s) shall have the capacity, performance, or functional characteristics equal to or greater than, the current product(s).

c) The proposal shall discuss the impact on hardware, services, and delivery schedules. The cost of the changes not specifically addressed in the proposal shall be borne entirely by the Contractor.

d) Contractor has the right to withdraw, in whole or in part, any technological refreshment proposal prior to acceptance by the Government. Contractor will use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that prices for substitutions or additions are comparable to replaced or discontinued products. If a technological refreshment proposal is accepted and made a part of this contract, an equitable adjustment, increasing or decreasing the contract price, may be required and any other affected provisions of this contract shall be made in accordance with FAR clause 52.212-4, paragraph (c), Changes, and other applicable clauses of the contract.

13. Materials and equipment/ Government Furnished Property

a. Power:

Three-phase 415 VAC, 50 Hz, or Single-phase 230 VAC, 50 Hz, as available

b. 4U rack space in an equipment cabinet

c. Tower space for mounting a microwave antenna (Contractor must verify suitability)

14. Laws and Regulations

Without additional expense to the Government, the Contractor shall comply with all laws, codes, ordinances, and regulations required to perform this work. In the event of a conflict among the contract and requirements of local law, the Contractor shall promptly advise the Contracting Officer of the conflict and of the Contractor's proposed course of action for resolution by the Contracting Office.

15. Transitioning Plan

Within 30 days after contract award, the Contracting Officer may request that the Contractor develop a plan for preparing the Contractor to assume all responsibilities for services required and prepare the installation of necessary equipment. The plan shall establish the projected period for completion of equipment installation and the projected start date for performance of all services required under this contract. The current contractor has to install new equipment from an authorized reseller: antennas, coaxial cable, edge devices.

16. Deliverables/Delivery Schedule

The following items shall be delivered under this contract:

Description Quantity Delivery to: Date

General Instructions (See section 4)

1 COR 60 days after award

Transition Plan 1 COR 30 days after award

17. Quality assurance and surveillance plan (QASP)

This plan provides an effective method to promote satisfactory contractor performance. The QASP provides a method for the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) to monitor Contractor performance, advise the Contractor of unsatisfactory performance, and notify the Contracting Officer of continued unsatisfactory performance. The Contractor, not the Government, is responsible for management and quality control to meet the terms of the contract. The role of the Government is to monitor quality to ensure that contract standards are achieved.

Performance Objective/Metric Scope of Work Performance Threshold

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS Paragraphs 5 and 6 All services are performed satisfactorily with no more than 1 (one) customer complaint per month

QUALITY Paragraphs 5 and 6 All services are performed with high quality level/standards,

17.1 Surveillance

The COR will receive and document all complaints from Government personnel regarding the services provided. If appropriate, the COR will send the complaints to the Contractor for corrective action.

17.2 Standard

The performance standard is that the Government receives no more than one (1) customer complaint per month. The COR shall notify the Contracting Officer of the complaints so that the Contracting Officer may take appropriate action to enforce the inspection clause (FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items), if any of the services exceed the standard.

17.3 Procedures

(a) If any Government personnel observe unacceptable services, either incomplete work or required services not being performed they should immediately contact the COR.

(b) The COR will complete appropriate documentation to record the complaint.

(c) If the COR determines the complaint is invalid, the COR will advise the complainant.

The COR will retain the annotated copy of the written complaint for his/her files.

(d) If the COR determines the complaint is valid, the COR will inform the Contractor and give the Contractor additional time to correct the defect, if additional time is available. The COR shall determine how much time is reasonable.

(e) The COR shall, as a minimum, orally notify the Contractor of any valid complaints.

(f) If the Contractor disagrees with the complaint after investigation of the site and challenges the validity of the complaint, the Contractor will notify the COR. The COR will review the matter to determine the validity of the complaint.

(g) The COR will consider complaints as resolved unless notified otherwise by the complainant.

(h) Repeat customer complaints are not permitted for any services. If a repeat customer complaint is received for the same deficiency during the service period, the COR will contact the Contracting Officer for appropriate action.

18. Other Pertinent Information or Special Considerations

18.1 Authorization Instructions to Contractor

a. No person or agency other than the Contracting Officer (CO) is authorized to give instruction, orders or directions on behalf of the Government to the Contractor or his employees, unless such person or agency is authorized in writing by the CO to so act. The authority of such person or agency is strictly limited to the written authorization provided by the CO. The duty is upon the Contractor to determine the authority of such person or agency. Any questions regarding the authority of such person or agency should be directed to the CO in writing.

b. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): The CO may designate and authorize a representative(s) to act on his/her behalf under this contract. Such representative(s) as may be appointed shall be designated by a letter from the CO and a copy of the letter shall be given to the Contractor. The COR shall represent the CO as specified in his/her delegation of authority letter.

The COR shall not be authorized to issue change orders or adjustments. Changes in the Scope of Work/Specifications or any increase or decrease in the work called for by this contract shall be made by the CO by an executed modification to this contract.

18.2 Restrictions on subcontracting

The Contractor shall not subcontract for any of the of the direct labor services required under this contract.

19. Release of Information

a) The Contractor’s organization shall clear with the Information Office listed below any public release of information on this contract. This information includes news stories, articles, sales literature, advertisements, radio-TV spots, etc.

b) The request for public release of information should be addressed to: USAGM Agency Chief / Information Management Officer, James Reeves, CIO (T/C).

c) Limited Use of Data and Information. Performance of this contract may require the Contractor to access and use data and information proprietary to the Government Agency or Agency personnel, or which is of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this contract would be averse to the interests of the Government or others. The Contractor and Contractor personnel shall not divulge, or release data or information developed or obtained in performance of this contract, until made public by the Government, except to authorized Government personnel or upon written approval of the Contracting Officer. The Contractor will not use, disclose, or reproduce proprietary data which bears a restrictive legend, other than as required in the performance of this contract. Nothing herein shall preclude the use of any data independently acquired by the Contractor without such limitations or prohibit an agreement at no costs to the Government between the Contractor and the data owner provides for greater rights to the Contractor.

20. Definitions & Acronyms

This section includes all appropriate terms and phrases for this RFP / contract. The definition must be clear and concise, not ambiguous. Carefully consider each definition because they will be binding for the duration of this contract, unless modified. In addition, include a complete listing of all acronyms and words or phrases they represent.

20.1 DEFINITIONS: List any terms used within the RFP/contract that require further definition. At a minimum, insert the definitions provided below:

20.1.1 CONTRACTOR: A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

20.1.2 CONTRACTING OFFICER (CO): A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The CO is the only individual who can legally bind the government.

20.1.3 CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR): An employee of the U.S.

Government appointed by the contracting officer to administer the contract. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall state the scope of authority and limitations. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as that direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change, and has no funding implications. This individual does NOT have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

20.1.4 DELIVERABLES: Anything that can be physically delivered, but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

20.1.5 QUALITY ASSURANCE: The government procedures to verify that services being performed by the Contractor are performed according to acceptable standards.

20.1.6 QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP): An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

20.1.7 QUALITY CONTROL: All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to assure that the quality of an end product or service shall meet contract requirements.

20.1.8 WORKDAY: The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with this contract.

20.1.9 WORK WEEK: Monday thru Friday, unless specified otherwise

20.2 ACRONYMS

COR – Contracting Officer Representative ACOR – Alternate Contracting Officer Representative FAR – Federal Acquisition Regulation OCI – Organizational Conflict of Interest POC – Point of Contact QA – Quality Assurance QAP – Quality Assurance Plan QASP – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan QC – Quality Control PWS – Performance Work Statement

(End of Section)

21. Contract Administration

CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE

The Contracting Officer will appoint by letter a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) who will have the responsibility of ensuring that the work confirms the requirements of the contract, and such other responsibilities and authorities as may be specified in the letter of authorization or this contract. It is understood and agreed in particular that the COR shall not have the authority to make changes to the scope or terms and conditions of the contract unless and only to the extend that such authority is specified in the letter of authorization or the contract.

THE CONTRACTOR IS HEREBY FOREWARNED THAT THE CONTRACTING OFFICER’S

REPRESENTATIVE (COR) CANNOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE CONTRACT WITHOUT

PRIOR WRITTEN AUTORITY FROM THE CONTRACTING OFFICER. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL

BE HELD FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CHANGES NOT AUTHORIZED IN ADVANCE IN

WRITING BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER. THE CONTRACTOR MAY BEDENIED

COMPENSATION OR OTHER RELIEF FOR ANY ADDITIONAL WORK PERFORMED THAT IS NOT

AUTHORIZED IN ADVANCE IN WRITING BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER. THE

CONTRACTOR MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED, AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO THE GOVERNMENT,

TO TAKE ALL CORRECTIVE ACTIONS NECESSITATED BY REASON OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED

CHANGES PERFORMED BY THE CONTRACTOR WITHOUT SPECIFIC ADVANCE WRITTEN

AUTHORIZATION FROM THE CONTRACTING OFFICER.

The COR is responsible for the program-related activities, including reporting, and communications.

The COR contact information is:

Name: (TBD) E-mail: (TBD) Phone: (TBD)

The ACOR contact information is:

Name: (TBD) E-mail: (TBD) Phone: (TBD)

CONTRACTING OFFICER

The Contracting Officer (CO) has the overall responsibility for the administration of the contract. The CO without the right of delegation, is the only authorized individual to take actions on behalf of the Government to amend, modify, or deviate from the contract terms, conditions, requirements, specifications, details, and/or delivery schedules. Unless otherwise delegated, only the designated CO has oversight of the contract as a whole.

The CO for this contract is:

Name: Nicole Wright E-mail: NWright@usagm.gov Phone: (202) 617-5629

CONTRACTOR POINT OF CONTACT

Contractor’s Contract Administrator In the event your firm receives a contract as a result of this solicitation, designate a person whom the Government may contact during the period of the contract for prompt contract administration.

Company Name:

Name of POC:

Address:

E-mail:

Phone:

(End of Section) mailto:NWright@usagm.gov