JA- NTIA ISAC Multi-stakeholder Support - Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval Enterprise Services Office of Acquisition

1401 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20230

FY24-19

(1) Identification of the agency and the contracting activity:

Program Office: Department of Commerce

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

1401 Constitution Ave, NW

Contracting Activity: Department of Commerce

Enterprise Services - Acquisition

1401 Constitution Ave, NW

(2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) requirements to convene members of the spectrum industry and academia to establish a multi-stakeholder forum for the purpose of providing information and feedback to the spectrum band studies and generating recommendations to enable future spectrum coexistence.

NTIA plans to enter into a contract in a manner other than full and open competition to NSC on the basis that there is only one responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This is a new contract action.

(3) A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs:

NTIA requires assistance in creating and administering the multi-stakeholder forum to facilitate the coordination and collaboration needed to conduct the band studies directed by the Presidential

Memorandum and the National Spectrum Strategy (NSS). The objective of the NSS is to modernize spectrum policy, promote private-sector innovation, and further the missions of federal departments and agencies. More broadly, this objective falls under the purpose of creating a multistakeholder, evidence-based, transparent process for national decision making on spectrum repurposing and spectrum sharing.

NTIA is seeking advisory and administrative support in the following areas to implement and execute the non-federal multi-stakeholder group:

(1) Defining and executing a process for recruiting/outreach to non-federal participants to create a multi-stakeholder group.

(2) Hosting monthly meetings of the multi-stakeholder group, as well as classified sub-group meetings (when needed).

(3) Creating guidelines for sharing study outcomes, with appropriate guardrails in place to protect classified information.

(4) Conducting broad industry and media outreach to discuss the process, progress, and benefits of this effort, subject to NTIA goals.

(5) Managing the distribution of working paper/draft reports with the non-Federal participants throughout the iterative process of analyzing targeted spectrum bands and managing non-

Federal comments and feedback.

(6) Soliciting potential prototype projects and spectrum research demonstrations as needed.

(7) Hosting a website available to group members where all unclassified documents will reside.

(8) Managing all industry contributions.

The performance of this contract does not include inherently governmental functions or personal services.

The annual value of this action is estimated to be $750,000 per year with an estimated contract term of up to 3 years (base plus options) for a total estimated value of $2,250,000.

(4) An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of permitting other than full and open competition is 41

U.S.C. 3304(e), as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501.

(5) A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

National Spectrum Consortium (NSC), Inc. at 1150 18th Street NW Suite 750, Washington, DC

20036

The National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) is an independent non-profit with a unique set of members that includes spectrum stakeholders from across the telecom industry, defense industrial base, and academic community. The National Spectrum Consortium, Inc is a not-for-profit business and is therefore not eligible to be a “small business” according to 13 CFR 121.105(a)(1) which provides that a business concern must be organized for profit to meet the definition of a small business. The NSC is considered a large business for this market research. The NSC NAICS code is 813910.

From November 2021 through September 2023, NSC convened the Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) working group and its classified subgroup (PATHSS-C).

This PATHSS effort, which included direct and candid sharing of technical details among a diverse set of participants, represents a successful model for the type of work NTIA expects to accomplish with its multi-stakeholder forum. NSC has both the singular expertise to replicate and improve on the

PATHSS process for NTIA, as well as the resources and capacity to execute quickly on NTIA’s requirements.

NSC has several inherent advantages when it comes to building a sustainable program for exploring spectrum development.

NSC is balanced; it has members large and small, traditional and non-traditional, commercial and academic from a range of industries including telecommunications, information technology, aerospace, and defense.

NSC has the necessary administrative infrastructure. It has the built-in staff, expertise, and operating budget to continue convening spectrum stakeholders.

NSC’s mission is and has been to test and demonstrate spectrum-based technologies. Its ability to fund and enable real-world prototyping projects provides much needed data for continued spectrum analysis.

NSC has a proven track record. The PATHSS working group has provided a successful model.

(6) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by

Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

A “Special Notice” Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted on SAM.Gov April 30, 2024, with a closing date of May 16, 2024. No responses were received.

A Source Sought was posted on SAM.Gov on June 25, 2024, with a closing date of July 01, 2024. Two responses were received from a large business entity National Spectrum Consortium, Inc. (NSC) and small business entity.

(7) A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison with historical pricing information that exists for similar services. The anticipated total contract value for this acquisition is $2,250,000.00 with a 12-month base period and two (2), 12-month option periods. The Government will evaluate each line-item price and the total proposed price to determine if the Offeror's price is fair and reasonable utilizing price analysis techniques in accordance with the guidelines in FAR 13.106-3 "comparison with similar items in a related industry; comparison with historical pricing; and comparison to an independent Government estimate.” Because this is a commercial service, then cost and pricing data is not required; however, the Government will request other than cost pricing data in order to understand the Contractor’s pricing methodology.

(8) A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

The OSM Spectrum National Security Systems (SNSS) program office, supported by the Enterprise

Services – Acquisitions team, completed Market Research for this requirement. The methodology included Mandatory Procurement Sources and Lists, Historic Acquisition Information, Formal Requests for Information and Sources Sought, and SBA’s Small Business Dynamic Search. The Market Research considered that this acquisition is a service and commercial, and identified Market Research requirements for assessing potential providers. The team researched commercial providers including non-profit and for-profit organizations. Only the NSC meets all unique market research requirements. Additionally, the

NSC meets the market research requirement of independence while having the proper affiliation with other public or private sector commercial and academic interests in the spectrum community to ensure support of the multi-stakeholder forum is unbiased.

(9) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

Not applicable.

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition:

A Sources Sought notice was posted to SAM.gov (Notice ID: NTIA0000-24-00206-1) with result that two entities responded by the closed date of July 1, 2024. The responding organizations were the National

Spectrum Consortium, Inc. (NSC), a not-for-profit large business and a for-profit small business, RKF

Engineering Solutions, LLC.

NSC was deemed to be fully capable as it manages the National Spectrum Consortium which is a multi-stakeholder forum of government, industry and academia concerning spectrum related initiatives.

Convenes working groups under the NSC similar to this requirement. Represents all of its members, but not a single commercial entity.

The small business entity was deemed to have limited capability relative to spectrum band study expertise but not the required capability in coordinating multi-stakeholder forums across government, industry and academia to meet NTIA requirements.

(11) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

This acquisition is for limited, specialized support services with the objective of providing independent, support to assist the NTIA with its requirement to convene members of the spectrum industry and academia to establish a multi-stakeholder forum for the purpose of providing information and feedback to the spectrum band studies as part of the National Spectrum Strategy. This is a uniquely targeted effort that is not anticipated to have a follow-on or subsequent acquisition requirements.

(12) Program Official’s and Contracting Officer’s Certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the Contracting Officer's knowledge and belief:

Based on the above information, it is determined to be in the Government’s best interest to acquire independent support for the multi-stakeholder forum providing input to the National Spectrum Strategy band studies. I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Alan Rosner Date

Program Official

Danielle Green Date

Contracting Officer

(13) Pursuant to FAR 13.501(a)(2) and CAM 1306.70 Section 2.5(h), approval by the Operating

Unit Competition Advocate is required for any actions over $750,000:

APPROVAL

Christopher Wallis Date

Operating Unit Competition Advocate