JEFO_AT-T EIS TO - 04C22F0132 - Ceiling increase modification SAM.GOV.pdf

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) – FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

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Date: April 24, 2025 PR Number: 20146965

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Acquisition, Information Technology Contracting Division (ITCD) proposes to modify 70B04C22F00000132 pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The modification must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to a previously competed order already issued under the contract.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Task order 70B04C22F00000132 provides telecommunication services to CBP field offices around the country. Additional telecommunications services at CBP locations are required to support the transition of services from the expiring General Services Administration (GSA) Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications System 3 (WITS3) and Regional - Local Service Agreement (LSA) contracts (NWR). The additional performance will be added to the task order via bilateral modification and result in an increase in the total value of the task order. The requirement for additional services is the result of higher-than-expected need for services since the initial award.

The original Task Order solicitation and awarded services were based on the Agency’s GSA inventory as of June 2020. However, new orders for services on the expiring NWR contracts were still being placed through May 2022. These services were not reflected in the Task Order award, and need to be added through a contract modification. CBP intends to modify an existing task order with the following vendor:

AT&T Corp.

3033 Chainbridge Rd Oakton, VA 22124

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need (including the estimated value).

The Contractor shall continue to provide telecommunication connections and technical support services to maintain the current mission critical connectivity at over 1,600 field sites as well as Other Government Agencies (OGAs) and trade partners, such as the U.S. Coast Guard and numerous airport and seaport entities such as the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA). To support its mission, CBP needs a robust, resilient, and high performing enterprise network and supporting services.

Specifically, the task order includes support in the following areas:

Virtual Private Network Service (VPNS) and other network-related services including voice and conferencing services. The VPNS will be used for the Land Mobile Radio (LMR) network, Exceeding the SAT

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Cellular Over The Horizon Enforcement Network (COTHEN), and Meet Me Locations (MML), as well as for a redundant connection for some mission critical field sites.

The Contractor shall provide the following baseline services for all required sites:

• Virtual Private Network Service (VPNS)

• Cloud Service Provider Connection (VPNS-CSPC/TUCS)

• Private Line Service (PLS)

• Managed Network Service (MNS)

• Managed Security Service (MSS)

• Circuit Switched Voice Service (CSVS)

• Toll Free Service (TFS)

• Audio Conferencing Service (ACS)

• Access Arrangements (AA)

• Cable and Wiring Service (CWS)

• National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP)

Optional services are as follows for all required sites:

• Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service (MTIPS)

• Internet Protocol Voice Service (IPVS)

• Unified Communications Service (UCS)

• Circuit Switched Data Service (CSDS)

• Web Conferencing Service (WCS)

• Service-Related Equipment (SRE)

• Service-Related Labor (SRL)

• General (GEN)

The task order ceiling is $143,137,174.94. This action seeks to increase the ceiling value of the task order by $60,173,024.95 to $203,310,199.89, over the remaining periods of performance, through April 17, 2033. The current funded value of Task Order 70B04C22F00000132 is 35,582,248.58.

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited.

X FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

Rationale:

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CBP obtained telecommunications connectivity services, primarily through the GSA Networx, WITS3, and LSA contracts. These contracts will expire on May 31, 2026, requiring CBP to fully migrate all its telecommunication services to the Best-in-Class (BIC) GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) multiple award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract prior to the expiration.

CBP awarded Task Order 70B04C22F00000132 to AT&T to transition the Enterprise Data, LMR, COTHEN and AMOC connections, as the current incumbent, as well as all Voice Services within the Agency, off the expiring GSA contracts, to ensure that we have connectivity and communication between all mission areas. AT&T will provide an appropriate mix of services to meet essential CBP needs and shall meet the requirements as described in the EIS Contract as well as agency-specific requirements detailed in the Task Order Statement of Work (SOW).

A modification is necessary in the interest of economy and efficiency as a logical follow-on to the original Task Order 70B04C22F00000132 pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The original award was competitively solicited and awarded using the ordering procedures at FAR 16.505. It is necessary to limit competition for new work described herein as a logical follow-on because awarding a new EIS Task Order is not in the best interest of the Government for economy and efficiency.

AT&T has more Points of Presence, than any other EIS vendor, specifically in remote locations that are typical with the Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and COTHEN networks. Outside of the availability of existing infrastructure, adding a new vendor for the scope of work would be cost prohibitive to the government. To facilitate the required network connectivity would require duplicate routers and duplicate circuits. This network architecture and design, though technically feasible, would negatively impact the government by increasing the cost significantly to provide network connectivity.

As AT&T is the current service provider, they are the logical follow-on vendor capable of performing the required services. By contracting with AT&T, it eliminates risk to the Government by ensuring a cost-prohibitive architecture is not implemented. Since additional services are needed, CBP performed additional market research to ensure the best value is secured by the government.

For this modification, an average of all 9 vendor prices was calculated and 69% of the time, AT&T was equal or lower than the average price. Of the 330 CLINs being added, other vendors are not able to provide 48 of them, which is 15% of the total requirement which further supports the use of a follow-on task order (via modification) in the interest of economy and efficiency.

Therefore, only AT&T can provide all of the Government’s required services.

The Task Order modification is adding the same services, just in increased quantities/locations to effectuate the same transition (from the soon to be expired GSA NWR contracts to the use of the EIS IDIQ) originally envisioned when the Task Order was competed among EIS contract holders.

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5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will determine that the anticipated price(s) for the ceiling increase will be fair and reasonable, as they will be based on the current GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract rates, which were previously determined to be fair and reasonable.

Services offered on the EIS IDIQ are priced at a fixed price for performance of a specific service (e.g., MRC, NRC, usage). GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services to be fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer will also examine prices previously paid and acquisition history to support a fair and reasonable price determination.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

AT&T is the logical follow-on vendor, and to ensure modifying the task order is in CBP’s best interest, the following information is provided to support the justification.

AT&T is working to provide a like-for-like transition of their existing services to get Networx services transitions to EIS faster. As the incumbent for the LMR/COTHEN networks, AT&T can do a paper-based transition of LMR/COTHEN circuits to ensure a smooth transition without any disruption in services, which is critical in ensuring agent safety as agents rely on their radios and the LMR/COTHEN networks to request support and emergency assistance. In addition, AT&T has personnel with required skillsets and Background Investigations (BIs) on day one.

The transition of services is required before GSA’s Networx, WITS III and LSA-Regional contracts expire. As the incumbent, if AT&T is not awarded this supplemental work, CBP will be negatively impacted by a significant delay to the transition of services. The delay will significantly increase the cost to the government due to the higher pricing of Networx services.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

As AT&T is the current service provider, they are the logical follow-on vendor capable of performing the required services. By contracting with AT&T, it eliminates risk to the Government by ensuring a cost-prohibitive architecture is not implemented. If additional services are needed, CBP will perform additional market research to ensure the best value is secured by the government.

8. CBP intends to post this justification on SAM.gov pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).