JA24-088 822469298 - OCONUS Dark Fiber OM Justification and Approval HCA Signed_Redacted.pdf

CUI

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Template updated February 2023

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6 Justification & Approval (J&A), Supporting Procurements under FAR Part 12, and FAR Part 15

Purchase Request Number: Not Applicable (N/A) Contract Number: To Be Determined (TBD) Task/Delivery Order Number: N/A Procurement Title: Department of Defense (DOD) Information Network (DODIN) Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) Fiber Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Estimated Value:

Statutory and Regulatory Authority: 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) and FAR 6.302-1

Justification for OTFAOC Number: JA24-088

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as Head of the Contracting Activity, hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

Requiring Agency:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Infrastructure Executive (IE), Capacity Management Branch Fort Meade, Maryland 20755-0549

Contracting Activity:

DISA/Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) PS8231 2300 East Drive, Building 3600 Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 62225-5406

2. NATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION(S):

This J&A is for a sole source O&M contract under a 25-year, long-term Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) telecom lease contract, awarded in 2003 between DISA and Secure Federal Operations, LLC (SFO), formerly known as Sprint Communications. The IRU made a capital investment/lease of SFO’s fiber optic facilities and procured 10-years O&M of the fiber, which DISA used to create the Defense Information System Network (DISN) in Europe. The original 10-year capital lease and O&M contract was followed by a second 10-year O&M contract, which is due to expire in September 2024.

JA24-088 DODIN FIBER OCONUS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

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4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) (“property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency”).

5. DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

(a) Description of events.

Contract DCA100-03-C-4058 was awarded to Sprint on September 23, 2003, which procured all the fiber assets to create the DISN. In 2003, the Government entered a 25-year IRU with Sprint which provided exclusive use of the fiber assets leased under DCA100-03-C-4058. At that time, the Government fully paid the initial capital investment of the IRU. Upon expiration of DCA100-03-C-4058 in 2014, contract HC1047-15-C-4000 was awarded to provide a subsequent 10 years (one-year base with nine one-year options) of continuing O&M and sustainment for the fiber network.

HC1047-15-C-4000 will expire September 30, 2024, and a follow-on contract is required to continue O&M and sustainment for the fiber network in the final four-years of the IRU.

(b) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements.

The minimum Government requirement is continued O&M and sustainment support services for the existing Government acquired fiber infrastructure and associated access to co-location facilities and equipment. This O&M support must commence no later than October 01, 2024, as the current contract for O&M expires September 30, 2024. This requirement is a DISA core mission and a vital part of the DODIN that provides the defense enterprise critical capabilities and functionality necessary for the operation of the

(2) Proposed sole source contractor.

SFO has the experience, resources, technical expertise, and security qualifications required to repair and maintain components of the infrastructure to meet the Government’s needs (performance, security, reliability, availability, and sustainability) and established DISN security guidelines. SFO built, installed, maintains, and operates the fiber, facilities and equipment essential for this fiber optic backbone and currently serves as the DoD enterprise Optical layer maintenance provider for the DISN. SFO is in the unique position to install the equipment required for upgrades and can continue to provide maintenance and repairs at the commercial facilities. No source, other than the existing contractor, is capable of providing the services required by the Government to continue to operate and maintain the network without impacting and/or impairing the ability to accomplish missions in support of national security objectives infrastructure.

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(3) Discussion regarding cause of the sole source situation.

Under the terms of the IRU, the infrastructure and facilities are owned by SFO, and the Government equipment is located inside SFO facilities. As a result, only SFO can perform the required O&M (as it has been doing for the past twenty years).

(4) Impact.

The schedule required for another contractor to design, engineer, integrate, configure, test, turn-up, certify and transition customer links, would not meet schedule required by the DoD. This contracting action is necessary to ensure Government fiber infrastructure and associated equipment are maintained and available to support the Warfighter. Failure to sole source these services will result in degraded communications for the Warfighter. If the sole source action is not approved, the Government would incur substantial duplication of costs, estimated at illustrated in the below table. Costs would not be recovered through competition. The Government has invested in this multi-million-dollar operational network under the current and prior contract.

Table: Duplication of Cost

6. CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL SOURCES:

A combined Notice of Intent-Sources Sought was posted to SAM.gov requesting capable companies to submit their interest; no responses were received. As discussed above, under the terms of the IRU, SFO is the only potential practicable source. The Contracting Officer will post this J&A to SAM.gov within 14 days of award of this contract action in accordance with FAR 6.305(a).

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST:

The proposed rates for this action will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 15.404. Proposal pricing of the sole source provider will be compared to an Independent Government Cost

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Estimate, historical data, and published market prices for the service. Certified cost or pricing data is not required for this commercial acquisition in accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b)(3).

8. MARKET RESEARCH:

Market research was based primarily on internal reviews of current fiber maintenance contracts within DISA exercised in FY23 targeting the cost of fiber per mileage and redundant operations and/or acquisition of a new fiber IRU. Although, there are other large companies that provide and install fiber cable, implementation that meets the specific requirements with a different company is estimated to take a minimum of three years. This gap would create an unacceptable break in services to the European region’s customers, in addition to the significant duplication in costs previously expended to obtain the current fiber. Additionally, sole source award pricing under similar dark fiber O&M contracts indicates comparable monthly fiber O&M pricing is expected. While pricing can vary depending on terrain and/or location, research found that average per mile rate estimates of comparable requirements were comparable to SFO.

Based on recent market research dated October 01, 2023, it has been determined that only the support from SFO can fully meet the Government’s need. SFO owns or controls access to the facilities where all the DISN equipment is located for the existing fiber network and no other competitor is permitted access. This is standard protocol for any telecommunications provider with a facilities-based environment.

The Government will continue to conduct market research to determine if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future competitive actions, e.g., there are similar products and/or product support in the marketplace that provides the same functionality, the original equipment manufacturer releases ownership rights of product, or it is economically feasible to procure a new system.

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS:

None

10. LISTING OF INTERESTED SOURCES:

Secure Federal Operations

11. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS

THAT LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

(a) Procurement History.

(1) Contract Number: DCA100-03-C-4058 Contractor: Sprint Communications L.P Contract Period: September 23, 2003 – March 22, 2014 Basis of Award: Competitive Contract Type: FFP

(2) Contract Number: HC1047-14-C-4008 Contractor: Sprint Communications L.P

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Contract Period: March 23, 2014 – September 30, 2014 Basis of Award: Bridge Contract Contract Type: FFP

(3) Contract Number: HC1047-15-C-4000 Contractor: Secure Federal Operations LLC (Formerly Sprint Communications L.P) Contract Period: October 01, 2014 – September 30, 2024 Basis of Award: Sole Source Contract Type: FFP

(b) In anticipation of the expiration of both this projected contract and the IRU, the Government can conduct market research to evaluate alternative solutions.

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TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Yovonne D. Stewart SIGNATURE:

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Contracting Officer Representative, IE16

PHONE: (301) 225-2921

REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Christopher Paczkowski SIGNATURE:

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Senior Technologist Executive, IE

PHONE: (301) 225-2000

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Brittany Haas SIGNATURE:

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Contracting Officer/DITCO PS8231

PHONE: (618) 418-6448

HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY APPROVAL: I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this justification for OTFAOC does not exceed $100M, this review serves as approval.

NAME: Douglas Packard SIGNATURE:

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Procurement Services Executive, Director, DITCO

PHONE: (301) 225-4123

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO

Brittany Haas at brittany.n.haas2.civ@mail.mil or (618) 418-6448