JOFOC 22 GS04T13BFD1605.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Contract GS04T13BFD1605

Region 4 GRITS 2

Applicable FAR Reference: 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

1. IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

This justification supports the extension of General Services Administration (GSA)’s Region 4

GRITS 2 telecommunications contract with Level 3 Communications, LLC (f/k/a TW Telecon), GS04T13BFD1605. Two of the user agencies with active services on this contract requiring this extension beyond the current end date in order to complete transition to their newly awarded contracts are:

- Department of Defense (DOD). DOD is America's largest government agency. With our military tracing its roots back to pre-Revolutionary times, the department has grown and evolved with our nation. DOD’s mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security.

-Department of Justice (DOJ). The mission of the DOJ is to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.

The contracting activity is the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition

Service (FAS) Information Technology Category (ITC), Office of Acquisition Operations, Interagency Contracts, 1800 F Street NW Washington, DC 20405. This document serves as a justification for other than full and open competition in accordance with FAR 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”; justified and approved in accordance with FAR 6.303 and 6.304.

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The action being approved is to extend the GS04T13BFD1605 contract and any active task or service orders for nine (9) months, from its current expiration date of March 31, 2024 through

December 31, 2024. This extension is necessary so that the agencies served by this contract will be able to conclude their transition to their competitively awarded Enterprise Infrastructure

Solutions (EIS) task orders (see Table 2, in Section 6). Additionally, this extension will align this contract’s expiration date with the expiration dates of GSA’s other legacy telecommunications contracts which extend to May 31, 2024 or after.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS (including the estimated value)

The extension of GRITS 2 Local Services Agreement (LSA) contract, GS04T13BFD1605, is required to provide continuity of services for the agencies in the chart below that receive telecommunications services provided by Level 3 additional time to complete their transition to the EIS contract. The contract extension is not intended to be used for the order of new services.

DocuSign Envelope ID: 72BC94D4-8259-4DC8-9375-AF6F870DF624

Contract Ceiling: $2,776,688,259.20 (no ceiling increase required)

Expenditure to Date: $1,389,935.12

Monthly Cost: $621.21 (9 months = $5,590.89)

LSA Region 4, GRITS 2 Contract: GS04T13BFD1605

Contractor: Level 3

Requiring Agency

Active Service

Instance Records

(SIRs) for Agency

Agency's Anticipated Date for

100% Disconnected

DOD

102 05/31/2024

DOJ 101 12/31/2024

Table 1: Service Transition Dates

4. IDENTIFICATION OF THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION

The statutory exception to full and open competition is issued under 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”.

5. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED

Level 3 is the only contractor that can provide these services to these specific agencies for this particular timeframe. Level 3 is currently the incumbent contractor for each of the agencies listed above and is providing the listed services. Agencies have awarded their Enterprise

Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) task orders in accordance with FAR part 16.505 and are well into their transition off of this Level 3 contract and onto their EIS task orders. This extension is necessary to provide enough time for the physical transition of services to the EIS task orders.

Other contractors provide the same type of service, however, it is not possible to transition the services to any other contractor faster than to the EIS contractor. Competing and awarding an additional contract or task order would create a transition inside of the transition to EIS and would seriously stall agencies’ progress in fully transitioning from this contract to EIS. As such, Level 3 is the only contractor source who can continue to serve as the incumbent provider to these agencies while the agencies complete the process of transitioning to their new contracts.

Awarding to any other contractor would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

The extension of this contract is to support active Service Instance Records (SIRs) for user agencies so that there is not a break in service as they transition to their new EIS task orders.Telecommunications service providers use SIRs to keep track of the services they are providing to their customers, to manage billing and invoicing, and to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with the service. A SIR typically includes information such as the customer's account number, the type of service (i.e, analog line, Primary Rate Interface, Centrex line) that has been provisioned, the date and time the service was activated, and any other relevant details that may be needed to manage the service instance.

For example, in the case of a phone service, the SIR might include information about the customer's phone number, the type of plan they are on, and any usage limits or restrictions that apply to their account. SIRs are often integrated with other systems and databases, such as billing systems and network management systems, to provide a comprehensive view of the customer's service experience.

As part of each agency’s transition process, each SIR must first be assessed for implementation of the new service. Most SIRs will then need on-site evaluation of the facilities, wiring, interfaces and configurations to determine the required changes. Where equipment is aging or incompatible, replacement devices need to be ordered (with delayed delivery times due to chip-shortages), installed, and reconfigured.

DOD currently has over 473,000 active SIRs remaining on all legacy contracts supporting DOD missions, including 102 SIRs on GS04T13BFD1605. There are currently over 180,000 active

SIRs remaining on all legacy contracts supporting DOJ missions, including 101 SIRs on

GS04T13BFD1605.

Level 3 is currently the incumbent contractor for each of the agencies listed above, providing the listed services. Agencies have awarded their Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) task orders and are well into their transition off of the Level 3 contract and onto their EIS task order contracts. Level 3 has been providing the incumbent contract services for these agencies since

April of 2013 when the contract was awarded. As such, Level 3 is the only contractor source who can continue to serve as the incumbent provider to these agencies while the agencies complete the process of transitioning to their new contracts.

Due to the complexities of the new modernized services they are moving to, it has been unfeasible for them to complete that transition faster. Furthermore, additional developments have complicated the agencies' listed in Table 1 in their ability to meet their currently planned transition schedules. Specifically the delay associated with the requirement for all EIS vendors to execute contract modifications to meet the requirements of Section 889 of the 2019 National

Defense Authorization Act. The statute stated that beginning August 13, 2020, the government was precluded from contracting with any entity that uses prohibited telecommunications equipment. The modification language to be used had not yet been developed. The EIS

Program Office was unable to issue the modifications until the language had been approved.

As a result, agencies stopped issuing any fair opportunity solicitations and stopped making EIS task order awards until ALL vendors under the EIS contract had the contract modifications bilaterally executed.

Additionally, user agencies are transforming to a modernized service while transitioning which presents an additional set of challenges for the user agencies and for the EIS contractors. This means that the agency is not simply reprocuring the services they previously purchased.

Instead the service is converted during the transition, such as to replace a legacy service with a newer technology, improved functionality, or expanded reach. Technical complexities due to modernizing include the transitioning of traditional broadband services into a modernized solution. The need to modernize is most evident in the discontinuation of Time Division Multiplex

(TDM). TDM is a method of putting multiple data streams in a single signal by separating the signal into many segments, each having a very short duration. TDM services are based on copper wire and circuit switching; this is a legacy service that is being retired in all sectors due to regulatory changes impacting the entire telecommunications industry nationwide. Technology resources have evolved and as a result, it is not sustainable for telecommunications carriers to maintain increasingly expensive and less safe options such as TDM when there are more cost-efficient services available. The discontinuation of TDM forces modernization and increases costs and creates delays due to the industry-wide limitations of resources and the need to perform technical revalidation in order to effectively transition.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the timely completion of site surveys as the time required to arrange on-site visits was significantly extended by 'work from home' orders and proof of vaccination status that precluded ability of government personnel to escort vendors.

Additionally, the agencies listed in Table 1 have communicated to GSA that there continues to be supply chain disruptions due to the micro-chip shortage for key telecommunications network equipment. Such equipment includes routers and soft switches from major manufacturers like

Cisco, Fortenet and Juniper used for Voice over IP applications as well as significant delays experienced in shipping and delivering the required infrastructure resulting in the inability to order and ship equipment in the time frames originally proposed and agreed upon. Finally, due to the delays experienced over the last two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the agencies (Department of Justice is an example) have had to revisit their awarded task order project plans and renegotiate at a site-by-site level to determine if the proposed and awarded modernized solution is still feasible. In many instances across government, with the disruption of the supply chain and inability to receive equipment required for implementation of modernized services, the agency and the vendor have had to revert to a like-for-like transition due to the fact that a modernized service is simply currently unavailable.

Level 3 is the only vendor who can serve as the contractor while these agencies continue to transition. Only nine (9) months are needed to extend the contract to December 31, 2024 allowing agencies to finish their transition off of the contract. It is in the government’s best interest to maintain the existing contractual relationship to avoid disruption of service and transition activities. GSA is the customer of record with Level 3 and serves as the “service provider” to agencies who utilize those services, Hence, it is incumbent upon GSA to meet agency requirements by fulfilling their service needs until their transition is completed.

Otherwise agencies would be forced to transition prematurely before the date that was formally agreed upon in the GSA MOU (i.e., a transition within a transition) or lose those services entirely until the replacement services from their new contractor are implemented.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED

FROM AS MANY SOURCES AS 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.

The follow-on vehicle to provide the services under this IDIQ contract is EIS. Transition planning dictates that all agencies using Networx, WITS 3, and Local Telecommunications contracts will transition to EIS contracts or another vehicle. EIS was synopsized in accordance with FAR Part

5.2 and awards were conducted with full and open competition in accordance with FAR Part 15 and resulted in nine EIS IDIQ Contracts. Level 3 is one of the EIS contract holders. Table 2 below provides the dates when the agencies receiving services on the Level 3 GRITS 2 LSA contract awarded their EIS task order and to whom:

Agency EIS Task Order Award Dates Table 2

Agency Task Order Award Date Vendor(s)

Department of Defense More than 1890 EIS Task Order Awards from 3/2020 to 3/2024

AT&T - BT Federal - Core Technologies - Comcast - Granite - Lumen - MetTel -

Verizon

Department of Justice 7 EIS Task Order Awards from 5/2019 to 3/2024

Verizon

AT&T

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

The anticipated cost of this nine month extension is approximately $5,590.89 based on the current total monthly invoicing on this contract. As agencies continue to progress in transitioning to EIS this number decreases. GSA does not anticipate any significant increase in CLIN prices for this contract for such a short period. Additionally, commercial prices for modern telecommunications services have been consistently falling, making it difficult to justify any pricing increase for these services. Although some older technology services are becoming more expensive, unless a vendor primarily offers these older services, it is likely not worth the effort to propose new pricing, especially for such a short duration.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS (see part

10) OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT CONDUCTED.

The replacement contract for LSAs, including the Level 3 GRITS 2 award, is the EIS acquisition, which was awarded on July 31, 2017. Level 3 competed and won an EIS contract. However shortly after, Level 3 merged with Centurylink (another EIS awardee) to form Lumen

Technologies. At the time of the merger, Lumen canceled its Centurylink award for convenience.

Extensive market research was conducted by GSA. Based upon meetings with suppliers and contacts with knowledgeable Government and industry personnel, GSA prepared a listing of potential contract bidders. The methodology to determine the potential data set of contractors focused on those suppliers with USA-based ownership, whose service offerings have a national, international or an extensive regional reach. This review encompassed approximately 100 individual entities and the selection criteria focused on those organizations with a proven history of providing telecommunications services to the US Government via GSA Schedules, IDIQs, GWACs and/or regional contract vehicles. Additionally, the review included integrators and non-traditional entities due to the evolving nature of the industry since these entities could be eligible to participate in the EIS acquisition process contingent upon NAICS code requirements.

9. OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION, such as: When 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in

6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived.

It is a duplication of cost and effort to compete a contract to support these agencies requirements when the new contracts have already been competed and awarded (EIS). The purpose of this extension is to allow for that transition to continue and be completed.

Additionally, it is not feasible - nor possible for a different contractor to compete for, be awarded and transition the specific services currently utilized by agencies for only the requested nine months period of performance. If transition to a new contract could take place so quickly the transition to EIS by those agencies affected would be closer to completion and this extension might be rendered unnecessary.

As mentioned above, the purpose of this extension is not intended to be used for Agencies to order new services. All agencies are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSA in order to remain on the Networks Authorized User List (NAUL) and to use the

Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications System 3 (WITS 3), and LSA contracts beyond 31 May 2024. In accordance with the MOU, during this period, “... the Agency will not order any new services or changes and relocation of existing services on any of the expiring

Networx, WITS 3, and Local Service telecom contracts. The only orders the Agency may submit are those to disconnect service. In the event of exigencies that may require the Agency to order service on the expiring contracts, there are six scenarios under which the Agency may request

GSA waive the prohibition:

1. Disaster relief activities;

2. Activities necessary by law, the Constitution, for safety of human life, or for protection of property;

3. Law enforcement operations;

4. Protective functions of the U.S. Secret Service;

5. Counter-terrorism or intelligence-gathering or -dissemination capabilities;

6. Matters related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility."

10. A LISTING OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN

THE ACQUISITION

All interested parties participated in the competition of the EIS contracts by submitting a proposal and nine of them have EIS contracts to continue this work. This extension provides agencies with additional time to complete their transition from this contract to the EIS contracts.

11. A STATEMENT OF 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

The General Services Administration (GSA) conducted a FAR Part 15 competition to award the

EIS IDIQ contracts to replace all its legacy telecommunications contracts, inclusive of the

GRITS 2 Local Services Agreement (LSA) IDIQ Contract GS04T13BFD1605 with Level 3. On

July 31, 2017, GSA awarded the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract to nine (9) contractors (there were initially ten (10) contractor awardees that were reduced to 9 due to a merger). Level 3 was awarded an EIS contract. The acquisition was awarded under FAR Part

15. The agencies listed in the table under Paragraph 3 have all awarded their EIS task orders to replace those services listed. The extension is required to provide those agencies listed the extra time required for them to transition those services off of the Level 3 LSA contract to their

EIS task order awarded contractor.

12. CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVALS

TECHNICAL PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the supporting data for this Justification for Other than Full and Open

Competition, was the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (e.g., verifying the Government’s minimum needs or schedule requirements or other rationale for other than full and open competition). The supporting data provided and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

___________________________ Date: _______________________

Will Moore GSA Technical Representative

3/6/2024

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION AND APPROVAL:

I certify that this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, in accordance with

FAR 6.302-1, is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

___________________________ Date: _______________________

David Wilson GSA Contracting Officer

3/7/2024

Certificate Of Completion Envelope Id: 72BC94D482594DC89375AF6F870DF624 Status: Completed

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