IFB-S000000086 Final IFB.docx

STATE OF ARKANSAS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSFORMATION AND SHARED SERVICES

OFFICE OF STATE PROCUREMENT

501 Woodlane St., Ste. 220 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1023

INVITATION FOR BID

SOLICITATION DOCUMENT

SOLICITATION INFORMATION

SUBMISSION DEADLINE AND DELIVERY OF RESPONSE DOCUMENTS

Bid responses for this Invitation for Bid must be submitted through ARBuy, the State’s eProcurement system. It can be accessed at https://arbuy.arkansas.gov. Bids received after the submission deadline may be rejected as untimely. See section 1.2 for information regarding Live Bid Openings.

TSS OFFICE OF STATE PROCUREMENT CONTACT INFORMATION

SECTION 1 – REQUIREMENTS

· Do not provide responses to items in this section unless specifically and expressly required.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

This Invitation for Bid (IFB) is issued by the TSS Office of State Procurement (TSS OSP) for the Department of Information Systems (DIS) to obtain pricing and contracts for telecommunications services. The services that are bid are designed to support the State network including E-Rate eligible services and non-E-Rate services. For K12 WAN locations we need to increase their current minimum bandwidth to 1Mbps/user with the ability to grow to 4 Mbps/user as needed. Direct all questions, comments, or concerns you may have regarding this solicitation to the TSS Office of State Procurement, not DIS.

1.2 LIVE BID OPENING

Use the information below to view the bid opening online.

1.3 CLARIFICATION OF SOLICITATION

A. Submit any questions requesting clarification of information contained in this Solicitation via the solicitation posting in ARBuy by midnight, Central Time on or before 02/07/2022.

1. For each question submitted, Prospective Contractor should reference the specific solicitation item number to which the question refers.

2. Prospective Contractors’ written questions will be consolidated and answered by the State as deemed appropriate. The State’s consolidated written response is anticipated to be posted to the solicitation posting in ARBuy by the close of business on 02/14/2022. If Prospective Contractor questions are unclear or non-substantive in nature, the State may request clarification of a question(s) or decline to answer.

B. The Prospective Contractor should notify the TSS OSP buyer of any term, condition, etc., that precludes the Prospective Contractor from submitting a compliant, Responsive Bid. Prospective Contractors should note that it is the responsibility of the Prospective Contractor to seek resolution of all such issues, including those relating to the terms and conditions of the contract, prior to the submission of a bid.

C. Prospective Contractors may contact the TSS OSP buyer with non-substantive questions at any time prior to the bid opening.

D. An oral statement by TSS OSP will not be part of any contract resulting from this solicitation and may not reasonably be relied on by any Prospective Contractor as an aid to interpretation unless it is reduced to writing and expressly adopted by TSS OSP.

1.4 DEFINITION OF TERMS

A. Unless otherwise defined herein, all terms defined in Arkansas Procurement Law have the same meaning herein.

B. “Prospective Contractor” means a responsible bidder who submits a Responsive Bid in response to this solicitation.

C. The terms “Invitation For Bid”, “IFB” and “Solicitation” are used synonymously in this document.

D. “Responsive Bid” means a bid submitted in response to this solicitation that conforms in all material respects to this IFB.

E. “Shall” and “Must” mean the imperative and are used to identify requirements.

F. “Requirement” means something required.

G. “Specification” means any technical or purchase description or other description of the physical or functional characteristics, or of the nature, of a commodity or service. “Specification” may include a description of any requirement for inspecting, testing, or preparing a commodity or service for delivery.

H. “State” means the State of Arkansas. When the term “State” is used herein to reference any obligation of the State under a contract that results from this solicitation, that obligation is limited to the Department using such a contract.

1.5 BACKGROUND FOR ETHERNET SERVICE

A. Consistent with the State of Arkansas’ commitment to public-private partnerships, DIS seeks bids for Ethernet connectivity from selected schools and non-schools to Contractor aggregation locations and between Contractor aggregation locations and State aggregation locations. IFB SP-20-0060 for High Bandwidth Transport and Internet was issued and awarded a year ago and contains the majority of the network needed to serve K12 schools, including the vendor aggregation circuits to State aggregation sites, the backbone connecting State aggregation sites, and internet access. IFB SP-18-0098 and SP-18-0116 for agency locations were issued and awarded three years ago. The circuits being bid here supplement what was included in the SP-20-0060, SP-21-0046, SP-18-0098, and SP-18-0116 solicitations. DIS intends to design the services that are bid here and award in the most cost-effective configuration utilizing any Ethernet connectivity awarded from the SP-20-0060, SP-21-0046, SP-18-0098, and SP-18-0116.

B. DIS will utilize up to eight (8) State aggregation sites, geographically dispersed throughout Arkansas. These State aggregation sites include two (2) State data centers and six (6) Arkansas Research & Education Optical Network (ARE-ON) huts. The ARE- ON huts are State assets with environmental controls, physical security, battery power, emergency generators, 24-hour access, and other elements needed for the latest technology and network designs. The eight (8) State aggregation sites are listed in Figure A below:

Figure A, State Aggregation Sites

C. Six (6) of the State aggregation sites are owned by the Arkansas Research & Education Optical Network (ARE-ON). These locations were funded by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant money, and therefore are subject to the following program requirement: “Recipients should allow colocation by interconnecting parties, on a first-come, first-served basis, in any equipment or facilities funded by BTOP, where and when possible. Recipients should expect customers to request a variety of colocation services, including secured space separated from the owner’s equipment, 24-hour access, escorted or unescorted access, and AC and/or DC.” The AREON sites can only provide -48volt DC power with an A and B buss.

D. Prospective Contractors may find additional information regarding the BTOP program and applicable rules at the following link: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fr_bbnofa_090709.pdf.

E. The Prospective Contractor may bid on any or all addresses and services in the Official Bid Price Sheet. For connectivity services in Table 3 the contractor must bid all bandwidth for each address bid, If the Prospective Contractor does not desire to bid service at an address, the Prospective Contractor may show “no bid” on the price sheet. Leaving a line blank on the price sheet will be interpreted as no bid.

1.6 SERVICE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

A. The proposed telecommunications services must support the transport of the existing applications and related data currently being utilized by the Arkansas K-12 community. The Contractor’s proposed solutions(s) must allow the existing applications to function normally and perform properly, including but not limited to:

1. Internet access

2. High Volume Database transmission

3. Network Monitoring

4. Security Monitoring

5. Content Filtering

6. Specific education applications currently supported by ADE:

a. eSchoolPlus

b. eFinancePlus

c. Cognos Analytics

d. Ed-Fi Dashboards

e. AETN Professional Development

f. On-line Testing (PARCC)

g. Arkansas Itunes U

h. ADE Data Center including:

· School Stats

· School Information System

· Ad Hoc Reports

· Course Code Management

· Job Code Management

· Duplicate Enrollment

· School Board Hours

· Standards of Accreditation

i. Virtual Arkansas/Distance Learning

j. ATLAS (Mentoring)

k. Arkansas Educator Licensure System (AELS)

l. Teacher Eval (TESS)

m. Video (Discovery Learning, You Tube, Kahn Academy)

n. Learning Management Software (Blackboard, Moodle, etc)

o. Interim/Formative Assessment (Target, NWEA, TLI)

p. Online Lessons (Odyssey, Compass Learning, Plato, etc)

q. General Internet for Research

r. Online Textbooks/Library Books

s. BYOD (Bring-your-on-Device) Initiatives

t. Triand

u. District Report Cards

v. School Dude

w. Master Plan Tool

x. Child Nutrition Claims Software

y. Email B. The equipment proposed and provided by the Contractor(s) must support virtual private network traffic between the schools and the State aggregation sites for some of the above applications as determined by DIS.

C. The network handoff for all Ethernet connections must meet the following requirements:

1. 100Mbps and below must be 100BaseT (copper) connections

2. Between 100Mbps and 1Gbps must be 1000BaseSX unless specified differently by the customer when the service is ordered.

3. Greater than 1Gbps must be 10GBase-SR unless specified differently by the customer when the service is ordered D. The Contractor’s provided telecommunications services must be compatible with customer public or private IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.

E. The basic design for this network is one that will, at some sites, support applications that require minimal loss and low latency. The Ethernet Class of Service (CoS) must be provisioned as Business Critical – Medium. DIS is currently utilizing only two priority queues, “EF” and “AF31” along with the standard “Best Effort” class. Future applications may require utilization of additional priority queues. The Contractor’s infrastructure must honor and act upon packets or frames with traditional QoS or CoS markings. The Contractor shall support a minimum of four (4) priority queues and the “best effort” class. Official Price Sheet Table 3 may be expanded and modified by the Contractor to show all the options and cost for the features associated with the service bid.

F. DIS prefers Layer 2 switched connectivity. Where a Contractor must provide Layer 3 services inside their network, the hand-offs to the State must be Layer 2.

G. If DIS needs a private network address as specified in Request for Comments RFC 1918 (Network Address Translation), the State will allocate IP addresses out of the RFC 1918 address space. In this case, Contractor(s) shall support private and public IP addresses equally. If RFC 1918 addresses must traverse the internet, it must be accomplished within a site to site VPN tunnel.

H. Each proposed service demarcation point must be clearly labeled with applicable Circuit Identification.

I. All Contractor Ethernet connections must be configured to support IEEE 802.1Q “tagging”.

J. All proposed service must be symmetrical.

K. Contractors bidding on this service must bid Ethernet or other comparable technology for connectivity between data centers. Contractors shall establish connectivity in the most cost-effective manner possible. The cost for this connectivity must be shown on Official Price Sheet Table 2. Service will be terminated in State-provided routers located in the State data center sites.

L. Connections to the State network must be utilized to provide access to hosted services and administrative functions. The connection to the State network can be provided via an IP VPN connection or an Ethernet connection to the State Data Center which is currently located at the State Data Center - West, Little Rock, 11025 Anderson DR, Little Rock, AR 72212 or the Arkansas State Police Data Center, 1120 W Monroe AV, Lowell, AR, 72745. If required, the cost of an IP VPN connection should be shown in Table 8.

1.7 SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS

A. Restoration of service after catastrophic events such as fires, storms, earthquakes, or accidental damage must be on an around-the-clock basis. (24 hours a day/7 days a week).

B. The Prospective Contractor shall accept trouble reports from DIS in conjunction with the services being provided under this contract. There must not be an additional charge for this service.

C. The Contractor shall provide the one point of contact where all troubles will be reported for any of the services or facilities specified in this IFB. The personnel at this location shall be responsible for coordinating all efforts to correct the trouble and will update DIS at intervals to be established by DIS and the Contractor.

D. The Contractor shall provide a toll-free number, which must be attended 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with qualified personnel to handle trouble reports from the State. Under normal circumstances, as opposed to catastrophic events above, DIS expects trouble to be cleared within 8 business hours.

E. The Contractor shall specify or provide an overview of how they handle critical outages. For the purpose of this contract, a critical outage is defined by DIS as an outage that has denied connectivity to a large segment of the State’s customers or isolated a critical site or service. Examples of a critical outage include, but are not limited to, an ice storm, earthquake, contractor fiber cut, or tornado disrupting State operations, etc.

F. The Contractor shall provide an escalation procedure with contact information (i.e. names, titles, phone numbers, and pager/cell phone numbers) for 24/7 support for all service types bid. DIS must be able to initiate the escalation procedure 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for critical outages.

1.8 INSTALLATION

A. Contractor installation must include all required products and services needed to install a functional service.

B. Any installation costs listed on the Official Bid Price Sheet must also include all costs associated with site preparation (wiring, poles [if any], equipment set up, safety requirements, cleanup, etc.) to fully install the site and restore the site to pre-installation conditions as determined by the site owner.

C. Contractor shall conduct worksite cleanup. All packing crates, boxes, paper, packing material, and all other such extraneous material must be removed from the premises by the Contractor at the Contractor’s expense after installation.

D. Contractor will not be responsible for paying colocation fees inside the State sites. Installation of external towers, antennae, etc., are not expected.

E. Contractor shall un-box and install Contractor equipment in locations designated by DIS.

F. The State will perform all customer site preparation activities including, but not limited to, power, ventilation, proper environmental conditions as per the equipment manufacturer’s specifications, and the installation of equipment racks.

G. Contractor shall conduct technical interviews relating to Contractor needs at the State’s site. Entrance facilities (typically conduit) are the responsibility of the owner/occupant of the property where services are being installed. Contractor(s) shall meet with site contact (owner/occupant of property where services are being installed) to arrange and assign necessary site preparation responsibilities (conduit, power, backboard, etc.) in a mutually agreed upon time frame to ensure established due dates are met. Contractor(s) shall coordinate with State sites for equipment installations.

H. Contractor shall coordinate with DIS or their Contractors to facilitate uninterrupted services to each site.

I. DIS will provide on-site personnel to assist with the installation as deemed necessary by DIS.

J. DIS will provide Contractor building access necessary to implement the service.

K. DIS will ensure circuit demarcation points are clearly identified.

L. The Contractor shall provide experienced and knowledgeable onsite support during installation, as deemed necessary by DIS. Onsite support must be at no additional cost to DIS.

M. Contractor shall comply with all applicable codes, licenses, certifications, and standards in the State of Arkansas as it relates to the proposed installation services.

N. Installation Involving Building Modification:

1. Contractor(s) shall have Arkansas Contractors Licenses for any installation services that modify existing building structures.

2. State Agencies: Installation services that do not modify existing building structures as covered under Arkansas Building Authority Regulations are allowed for State agencies. Any installation services over $35,000 that modify existing building structures shall be regulated by Division of Building Authority (DBA) regulations.

3. Any other entity utilizing this contract shall follow their rules and regulations regarding installation services.

O. Contractor shall only accept move, add, and change orders from authorized DIS employees via email or online only.

P. Installation must be the sole responsibility of the Contractor.

Q. Contractor shall provide installation services in a manner and under a timeframe designed to minimize service disruption.

1. Contractor shall coordinate with DIS throughout installation so that affected DIS customers can be notified and emergency alternative communications can be provided by DIS, if necessary.

2. Services must be performed on a schedule that supports DIS and DIS’ customers’ operational needs, and may include nights, weekends, and holidays.

3. Within fourteen (14) days of contract award, Contractor shall work with DIS to provide an installation plan for the services.

4. The installation plan provided to DIS must be negotiable and subject to modification and approval by DIS.

5. Contractor will receive written approval by DIS prior to commencement of installation.

R. The Contractor shall notify both the ordering entity and DIS in writing within ten (10) business days after receipt of order if the Contractor is unable to provide services ordered that were awarded as a result of this IFB. DIS may, at their discretion, notify the Office of State Procurement (OSP).

1.9 TESTING AND CUTOVER

A. Contractor shall perform testing after installation of services to ensure said services are operating properly.

B. Contractor shall provide documentation of test results within five (5) business days to DIS.Network.implementation@arkansas.gov if so requested in writing by DIS.

C. Installation will not be considered satisfactorily complete until the Contractor has received notification from DIS that the installation is accepted, and the installed service is working.

D. The Contractor shall be the solely responsible for testing.

E. The Contractor shall provide testing services in a manner and timeframe designed to minimize disruption to purchasing entities.

1. The Contractor shall coordinate with DIS throughout testing so that affected DIS customers can be notified and emergency alternative communications can be provided by DIS, if necessary.

2. Services must be performed on a schedule that supports DIS and DIS’ customers’ operational needs and may include nights, weekends, and holidays.

F. Acceptance Testing:

1. DIS will test the system in a live DIS-provided environment for a maximum of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days.

2. DIS shall not accept the service until the availability of 99.95% is met for thirty (30) consecutive calendar days max.

3. If the service up-time falls below 99.95% during DIS testing process, DIS’s testing measurement period shall be restarted beginning with the first day of the thirty (30) consecutive calendar days max. DIS shall continue testing until either the 99.95% availability requirement is met or ninety (90) consecutive calendar days max have passed since the testing process began.

4. If the service fails to meet the availability requirement within ninety (90) calendar days after the cutover date, DIS shall continue acceptance testing on a daily basis upon written mutual agreement of all parties.

5. If the service fails acceptance testing, DIS will notify the Contractor of the deficiencies in writing and may submit a below standard State Contractor Performance Report (VPR).

1.10 SUPPORT SERVICES

A. The Contractor shall provide the State with an Account Manager that will be the single point of contact for account issues and support escalation requests within thirty (30) days of contract award.

B. Contractor shall only take direction from DIS as the customer of record. End using entities must go through DIS with their support issues.

C. Contractor shall own and maintain trouble tickets reported by DIS until trouble tickets are resolved.

D. Toll-Free Telephone Support Center:

1. Contractor shall provide toll-free telephone support.

2. Telephone support must be available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days per week to begin the restoration process. If access to a facility is required, the ticket may be placed on hold until access can be granted.

3. Contractor’s telephone support center staff shall be fluent in the English language.

4. Contractor’s telephone support center should be located within the continental United States of America.

5. Contractor shall provide, no later than thirty (30) calendar days from contract award, the toll-free telephone support center number. Contractor shall email the toll-free number to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov . Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response

E. Contractor’s staff shall log trouble calls including, at a minimum, the following information:

1. DIS Ticket Number (to be issued by DIS and provided to the Contractor when reporting trouble).

2. Date & Time of call

3. Circuit ID(s)

4. Apparent nature of trouble

5. Arrival time of maintenance personnel (if applicable)

6. Date/time trouble was cleared

7. Cause of trouble

F. Online Trouble Ticket Reporting System Availability:

1. Contractor is expected to provide an online trouble ticket reporting system. All tickets entered by Contractor’s personnel via telephone or entered by DIS via the Contractor’s web portal must be viewable by DIS.

2. Online trouble reporting system should include, but not be limited to, the following functionality:

a. Ability to create trouble tickets on new or recurring problem(s)

b. Ability to create tickets for informational and test assist purposes.

c. Ability to view trouble ticket information, including but not limited to the information listed in Section 1.10E).

d. Ability to monitor the status of open tickets and update open tickets.

e. Ability to generate trouble history reports for chronic problem isolation and monitoring with detailed summary.

f. Ability to generate detailed performance overview reports

g. Ability to send email notifications to appropriate parties of trouble ticket status changes and updates.

G. Contractor shall participate in Contractor meetings as part of DIS’s Contractor management program to review service results and arrive at remedies to improve or correct deficiencies. Contractor meetings may be monthly or quarterly.

1. The agenda and location for each meeting will be sent out in advance.

2. Contractor shall name a single point of contact. This contact shall address all agenda items on- site at a facility provided by DIS, or available by Contractor-provided and Contractor-paid conference bridge and/or web meeting, unless otherwise authorized in writing by DIS. This contact shall be the central point of contact for advanced escalation of all issues and shall be responsible for all aspects of the contract, including but not limited to Contractor performance.

H. Contractor shall provide, no later than fourteen (14) calendar days following contract award, the following information. Contractor shall email the information to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov. Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response.

1. Trouble notifications and response procedures, including time, method, and frequency of Contractor acknowledgement of DIS trouble tickets. All response and resolution times in Figure B: Severity Levels must be applied.

2. Contact information for Contractor’s assigned account specific resources for administrative and technical support to assist in initiating orders, resolving service problems, trouble escalation, billing errors, etc. Personnel should be familiar with the State Network and DIS processes. Local resources are preferred.

I. Contractor shall provide, no later than thirty (30) calendar days following contract award, the following information. Contractor shall email the information to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov & dis.contracts@arkansas.gov Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response

1. Information for accessing the Contractor’s trouble reporting system.

2. Contact information for an Account Manager where all troubles will be reported for any of the services or facilities specified in this IFB. The personnel at this location shall be responsible for coordinating all efforts to correct troubles and will update DIS at intervals to be established by DIS and the Contractor

J. Two weeks prior to monthly or quarterly Contractor meetings, Contractor shall provide a report in “.xls” format, via email to the designated DIS staff, of the diagnostic findings, including at a minimum:

1. Trouble ID

2. Time and date the trouble is reported

3. Time and date the trouble is resolved.

1.11 OUTAGES

A. Catastrophic Events

1. Restoration of service after catastrophic events such as fires, storms, earthquakes, or accidental damage must be on an around-the-clock basis until service is restored.

2. Contractor shall describe the anticipated level of response and response procedures in case of a catastrophe. Contractor shall email the information to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov within thirty (30) calendar days of contract award for DIS approval. Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response.

B. Figure B below defines outages and specifies the maximum response time and resolution times based on level of severity.

1. DIS shall have the right to further define outage terms as deemed necessary during the course of the contract.

2. “Response time” must be calculated as the time from which the outage is reported until the time maintenance personnel arrive on site.

3. “Resolution time” must be calculated as the time from which the trouble ticket is opened with the Contractor until the trouble is cleared and notification is received by DIS from the Contractor.

4. Response times may be met via remote maintenance procedures.

C. DIS business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Central Time) Monday through Friday excluding State holidays, https://portal.arkansas.gov/pages/State-employees/. However, there are critical locations which operate around the clock and require 7x24x365 Contractor support.

D. Trouble Ticket Reports Two weeks prior to monthly or quarterly Contractor meetings, Contractor shall provide a report in “.xls” format, via email to the designated DIS staff, of the diagnostic findings, including at a minimum:

1. Trouble ID

2. Trouble circuit ID

3. Time and date the trouble is reported

4. Time and date the trouble is resolved

5. Trouble resolution

Figure B: Severity Levels Severity Level

Definitions Maximum Response Initial Time

Resolution Time

Critical outages and situations when network services are down and DIS customers are unable to use/access the network.

Four (4) hours Around the clock As quickly as possible, which on average must not exceed four (4) business hours, unless otherwise authorized in writing by the DIS.

For any critical outage that cannot be fixed remotely, DIS shall have the right to require an on-site response. DIS requested Contractor on-site response time should be no more than four (4) business from time of request.

Major outages and/or repeated failure of service preventing its successful operation. The service may operate but is severely restricted (i.e. slow response, intermittent but repeated inaccessibility, etc.).

Six (6) business hours

As quickly as possible, which on average must not exceed six (6) business hours, unless otherwise authorized in writing by the DIS. DIS shall retain the right to escalate Level 2 outages to Level 1 at its discretion.

For any major outage that cannot be fixed remotely, DIS shall have the right to require an on-site response. DIS requested Contractor on-site response time should be no more than six (6) business hours from time of request.

Minor outages and/or a problem that exists with the service, but the majority of the functions/services are still usable, and some circumvention may be required to provide service.

Eight (8) business hours

As quickly as possible, which on average must not exceed eight (8) business hours, unless otherwise authorized in writing by the DIS.

E. Contractor shall provide samples of available performance and maintenance reports that are available to DIS for the services bid and describe how they can be accessed by DIS (i.e., Web Interface, telephone or other electronic access). Performance and maintenance reports must include, but are not limited to:

1. Network Provisioning Performance

2. Network Maintenance Performance

3. Service Billing Performance

Contractor shall email the information to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov no later than thirty (30) calendar days following contract award. Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response.

F. Contractor’s Service Manager shall be required to prepare a Service Action Plan (SAP) for complex outstanding service issues if requested to do so by DIS. The SAP must be agreed upon by DIS. DIS shall conduct reviews to audit progress in implementing Service Action Plans in order to document and measure progress toward the desired outcome.

G. Contractor shall submit a sample Service Action Plan (SAP). Contractor shall email the information to dis.network.implementation@arkansas.gov no later than thirty (30) calendar days following contract award. Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response.

H. Contractor(s) shall comply with the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate for prioritizing service requests by identifying those services critical to National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) and be in compliance with all Arkansas Public Service Commission and FCC Requirements.

1.12 SCHEDULE

A. Contractor shall submit a proposed timeline schedule, in calendar days, of the time required for the various components consisting of: facilities check, design, engineering, construction, central office or point of presence upgrades, installation, training, testing, and service acceptance to provide for a cutover date. Contractor shall email the information to & dis.contracts@arkansas.gov no later than thirty (30) calendar days following contract award. Contractor should not include this with their bid response.

B. If the proposed timeline schedule exceeds the requested initial installation interval of thirty (30) calendar days or the proposed initial Contractor service date, it must be subject to DIS approval.

C. No later than thirty (30) calendar days following contract award, DIS and the Contractor shall negotiate a mutually agreeable installation plan for the services.

D. The service must be installed in a manner and within a time frame designed to minimize disruption of normal functions of all entities.

E. The conversion of service must be performed on a schedule that supports DIS and their customers’ operational needs and may include nights, weekends, and holidays.

1.13 DELIVERY AND PROVISIONING OF SERVICE

A. The Contractor shall deliver service within service interval business days after receipt of the order (ARO). Extended delivery dates may be considered when in the best interest of the State, including situations involving crossing public rights-of-way. DIS shall have final determination into which of the following scenarios a service falls.

Figure C, Installation Intervals

Scenario

Minor Build includes locations with spare fiber to the customer demarcation point and no major equipment installation is required by the awardee in the Central Office (CO) or inter-office.

Up to 60 calendar days Up to day 15 ARO

Major Build includes locations where construction is required including up to half mile of new fiber, multiple splice points and/or placing CO or inter-office equipment.

Up to 90 calendar days Up to day 60 ARO

Complex Build includes locations involving permits, conduit, and more than a half mile of new fiber and/or major central office projects including installing core routers

Up to 240 calendar days Up to day 210 ARO

B. State purchasing entities must go through DIS to acquire services. Contractor shall only accept orders in reference to the contract from DIS.

C. DIS will communicate in their purchase order the option to have Contractor equipment delivered to the end user service address or to DIS’s central warehouse at:

Arkansas Division of Information Systems One Capitol Mall Room 3C014 Little Rock, AR 72201

D. All deliveries must be made during normal State business hours and within the agreed upon number of days unless otherwise arranged and coordinated with DIS. The Contractor shall give DIS immediate notice of any anticipated delays or plant shutdowns that will affect the delivery requirement.

E. The Contractor shall be responsible for damage to property at agency facilities during installation of system and for damage to Contractor owned property caused by the Contractor.

F. If any agreed upon or established due date or interval is subject to being missed by more than three (3) business days, DIS must be notified immediately and a new due date negotiated. A planned due date must be established for tracking purposes. If an acceptable due date cannot be established, DIS may cancel the order and alternate methods of procurement may be pursued.

1.14 FORCE MAJURE

Except for payment of amounts due, neither party will be liable for any delay, failure in performance, loss, or damage due to fire, explosion, cable/fiber cuts, power blackout, earthquake, flood, embargo, acts of civil or military authority, war, terrorism, acts of God, acts of public enemy, acts of regulatory or governmental agencies, delays from third parties deterring the Contractor from obtaining necessary licensing/construction permits/right of ways, or other causes beyond such party’s reasonable control.

1.15 AWARD CRITERIA

A. Transport from the School District Hub or State Agency Site to State Aggregation Site

1. Ethernet Transport The awards for Ethernet service from the school district hub or agency site to the State aggregation site will be awarded by address based on the lowest average cost over 48 months. If a Contractor bids service to a school district hub address or agency site, the Contractor shall provide pricing for all bandwidths associated with that address on Price Sheet Table 4 and Price Sheet Table 7 (unless already awarded the connectivity from the contractor aggregation site to the State aggregation site from bid SP-20-0060 or SP-18-0098 for non-schools). The awardee for each address will be determined based on the lowest average cost per Mbps for that address over 48 months. If bidding to a school district hub, Contractor shall bid all required speeds from the Contractor aggregation location to at least one State aggregation site on Table 5 but are encouraged to bid to more than one State aggregation site. If the Contractor bids to more than one State aggregation site on Table 5, the State aggregation site with the lowest average cost per Mbps will be used to determine low cost.

2. Future new locations not bid The Contractor with the lowest average cost per Mbps of all Contractors for all locations who bid in that exchange will be given the first right of refusal to furnish service to the new location at the current prices quoted for the address where the Contractor was the lowest. Each subsequent low bidder will be given next right of refusal. If a Contractor cannot be obtained from the existing Contractor pool for that exchange, the State will then procure by the appropriate procurement vehicle based on the anticipated dollar amount.

B. Metropolitan Networks (MANs)

1. Ethernet Transport The awards for district metropolitan area network (MANs) transport shall be made on a per school location basis by school district hub address based on the lowest average cost over 36 months. If a Contractor bids MAN transport to a school location, the Contractor must bid all required speeds for that address listed on Official Price Sheet Table 5. The lowest average cost per Mbps shall be calculated by averaging all required speeds.

2. Future New Locations Not Bid.

The Contractor with the lowest average cost per Mbps of all Contractors for all locations who bid in that exchange will be given the first right of refusal to furnish service to the new location at the current prices quoted for the address where the Contractor was the lowest. Each subsequent low bidder will be given next right of refusal. If a Contractor cannot be obtained from the existing Contractor pool for that exchange, the State will then procure by the appropriate procurement vehicle based on the anticipated dollar amount.

1.16 BILLING PROCESS AND MANAGEMENT

A. Billing Errors Contractor shall describe their process for resolving billing errors and the timeline for correcting billing errors. Contractor shall send the information to dis.contracts@arkansas.gov no later than thirty (30) days following contract award. Prospective Contractors should not include this with their bid response.

B. Billing Review

1. Contractor shall conduct a first bill review within thirty (30) days of the first bill cycle of each type of service to verify correctness of contract billing. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to initiate and coordinate this meeting by emailing dis.contracts@arkansas.gov. Failure to do so may result in a negative Vendor Performance Report (VPR).

2. At least one (1) Contractor representative must be on site at DIS for the bill review meeting unless permission has been given by email from DIS to not be on-site. The Contractor representative will provide at their expense a conference bridge or web-meeting allowing all necessary Contractor personnel to participate.

3. If incorrect rates or quantities are found, DIS must be notified and they must be corrected no later than the fourth (4th) billing cycle after error is found. The State shall have the right to withhold payment until corrections have been made and a corrected invoice is received.

4. All billing errors found in the first bill review or in a later bill review by DIS or the Contractor must be credited back to the original date of the error, but not beyond the beginning of the corresponding contract.

5. Contractor shall not impose any time restrictions upon DIS to identify billing errors and request a credit or refund.

C. Billing Invoices

1. Contractor shall set up and maintain account billing on an ongoing basis for no additional charge as directed by DIS to facilitate cost accounting and cost recovery.

2. Each service site billed on the Contractor invoice must have a service site address plus circuit ID, telephone number, or equivalent which will be used to identify the site and/or DIS customer being billed.

3. Contractor shall invoice DIS by line of service or speed and in the account format directed by DIS. An invoice with only the address, account number and amount shall not be acceptable.

D. Billing Discontinuance Contractor shall stop billing for service on the day notification to disconnect service is received or on a future date if requested. If the Contractor’s billing system does not allow this, credits must be issued within two billing cycles without DIS having to review each invoice and ask for the credits.

E. Billing (End to End Circuit) End to End Circuit billing must be provided on the same invoice. If manual billing or special billing is required by the Contractor to provide End to End Circuit billing, the Contractor must provide this billing free of charge. Failure to do so will result in negative Vendor Performance Reports.

F. Billing (Contract Rates) Detailed Contract Rate must match each line item bid as it appears on the monthly billing Statement and electronic media.

G. Billing Compatibility Detailed information in any form must be compatible with the current DIS tele-management system (currently Calero previously known as Compco).

H. Billing Fields Required The following fields for services, equipment, and onetime charges must be provided on each invoice if applicable:

· Contractor Name

· Invoice Number

· Account Number

· Contractor Billing Date

· Circuit Number

· Location Name

· Contract Number

· Address

· City

· Zip

· Zip4

· State

· Product Description

· Speed Mbps

· Circuit Charge Amount

· Circuit Tax Amount

· Circuit Fees Amount

· Total Bill Amount

I. Contractor shall work with DIS resources to establish some form of mutually acceptable electronic billing media, such as excel or file transfer within six (6) months after contract award. The media must also be in a mutually agreeable file format.

J. Contractor(s) must identify and provide the names of their company’s resources who will be responsible for this requirement no later than thirty (30) days after contract award to dis.contracts@arkansas.gov.

1.17 PAYMENT AND INVOICE PROVISIONS

A. Forward invoices to:

Arkansas Division of Information Systems Attention: Accounts Payable P.O. Box 3155 Little Rock, AR 72203-3155

B. By mutual agreement, invoices may be emailed to dis.accounts.receivable@arkansas.gov.

C. Payment will be made in accordance with applicable State of Arkansas accounting procedures upon acceptance of goods and services by the agency.

D. Do not invoice the State in advance of delivery and acceptance of any goods or services.

E. Payment will be made only after the Contractor has successfully satisfied the agency as to the reliability and effectiveness of the goods or services purchased as a whole.

F. The Contractor should invoice the agency by an itemized list of charges. The agency’s Purchase Order Number and/or the Contract Number should be referenced on each invoice.

G. Other sections of this Bid Solicitation may contain additional requirements for invoicing.

SECTION 2 – GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION

· Do not provide responses to items in this section unless specifically and expressly required.

2.1 TYPE OF CONTRACT

A. As a result of this IFB, TSS OSP intends to award a contract to one (1) Contractor per address.

B. The anticipated starting date for any resulting contract is July 1, 2022, except that the actual contract start date may be adjusted unilaterally by the State for up to three (3) calendar months. By submitting a signed bid in response to the IFB, the Prospective Contractor represents and warrants that it will honor its bid as being held open as irrevocable for this period.

C. The initial term of a resulting contract will be for four (4) years. Upon mutual agreement by the Contractor and Department, the contract may be renewed by TSS OSP for up to three (3) additional one-year terms or portions thereof, not to exceed a total aggregate contract term of seven (7) consecutive years.

2.2 CONTRACTOR SELECTION

A. Award will be made to the lowest-bidding, responsible Prospective Contractor per based on the lowest average cost per Mbps for that address over 48 months.

2.3 RESPONSE DOCUMENTS

A. All bid responses must be submitted through ARBuy, the State’s eProcurement system. The system can be accessed at https://arbuy.arkansas.gov.

B. Bid Response Packet

1. The following are bid submission requirements and must be submitted as part of a Prospective Contractor’s bid response.

a. Signed Bid Signature Page. Signature may be ink or digital. (See Bid Response Packet.)

b. Completed Bid Response Packet, which must be in the English language.

c. Completed Pricing Response. Official Bid Price Sheet attached to solicitation. Pricing must be proposed in U.S. dollars and cents.

d. Proposed Subcontractors Form. The utilization of any proposed subcontractor is subject to approval by the Department.

e. Exceptions Form.

2. The following items, which must be submitted prior to a contract award to the Prospective Contractor, may also be included with the Prospective Contractor’s bid response:

a. EO 98-04 Contract & Grant Disclosure Form.

b. Copy of Prospective Contractor’s Equal Opportunity Policy.

c. Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), if applicable.

3. DO NOT include any other documents or ancillary information, such as a cover letter or promotional/marketing information.

2.4 ACCEPTANCE OF REQUIREMENTS

A. Unless a Prospective Contractor expressly and conspicuously identifies any exception or exceptions to any of the Requirements in the Requirements Section(s) of this IFB by listing them on the Exceptions Form (See Bid Response Packet), Prospective Contractor understands and agrees its submission of a bid to represent that its bid meets all such Requirements.

B. A Prospective Contractor’s bid may be rejected if the Prospective Contractor takes exception to any Requirements in the Requirements Section(s) of this IFB.

2.5 ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. This IFB incorporates all of the Solicitation Terms and Conditions located on the TSS OSP website here (Agencies – Forms and Reporting – Solicitation Templates): https://www.transform.ar.gov/procurement/agencies/forms-and-reporting/.

B. Any special terms and conditions included in this solicitation shall override the Solicitation Terms and Conditions.

C. Unless a Prospective Contractor expressly and conspicuously identifies any exception or exceptions to any of the terms in the Standard Commodities Contract by listing them on the Exceptions Form (See Bid Response Packet), Prospective Contractor agrees and shall adhere to all terms if selected as the successful Contractor. Items identified as non-negotiable may only be modified if the legal requirement is satisfied and approved by the State. The Standard Commodities Contract can be viewed on the TSS OSP website here (Agencies – Forms and Reporting – Solicitation Templates): https://www.transform.ar.gov/procurement/agencies/forms-and-reporting/.

D. A Prospective Contractor’s bid may be rejected if a Prospective Contractor takes exception to any terms or conditions in the documents listed in 2.5.A and 2.5.C.

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