JOFOC 47QTCB20M0019.docx.pdf

INFORMATION TO SUPPORT

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

47QTCB20M0019

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 6 telecommunications contract with AT&T CORP., Contract GS06T11BND0013: Task Order

47QTCB20M0019. 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 Task Order 47QTCB20M0019 for 24 months, from its current expiration date of May 31, 2024 through [May 31, 2026]. This extension is necessary so that the purchase orders' expiration date will be extended along with the extension of GSA’s legacy telecommunications contracts (LSA). This will allow the agencies served by this purchase order additional time to conclude their transition to the Enterprise Infrastructure

Solutions (EIS task orders.

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

AGENCY’S NEEDS (including the estimated value)

DocuSign Envelope ID: 159B46BB-7797-4ABF-90F7-097E7CDE6872

The extension of Task Order 47QTCB20M0019, is required to provide services for the agencies that receive telecommunications services provided by AT&T CORP., 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.

Monthly Cost: $757.52

Duration: 24 Months

Total Value: $18,180.48

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

5.a. AT&T CORP. is the only contractor that can provide these services to these specific agencies for this particular timeframe. AT&T CORP. is the incumbent contractor that is providing the 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 the contract and onto their EIS task order contracts. 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, AT&T CORP. 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.

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.

This contract was competed in accordance with FAR Part 13 and resulted in award to AT&T

CORP. This JOFOC will be synopsized in accordance with FAR Part 5.2.

Additionally, the follow-on vehicle to provide the services under this purchase order 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 also 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. AT&T

CORP. is one of the EIS contract holders.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST

TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

The anticipated cost of this 24-month extension is approximately $18,180.48. As the agencies continue to progress in transitioning to EIS this amount will decrease. GSA does not anticipate any significant increase in CLIN prices for this purchase order for such a short period.

Additionally, commercial prices for modern telecommunications services have been consistently falling, making it unlikely that vendors will be able to justify any pricing increases for many 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. In previous extensions, while there were some price increases, on average, prices fell.

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

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

Every year GSA updates its commercial telecommunications pricing database using numerous sources. Each month this database is used to calculate the savings recognized by agencies using our telecommunications contracts by comparing prices paid to these commercial prices.

We recently updated the commercial price data base for FY 2023. For comparison purposes only, we ran the fourth quarter FY22 savings using both the FY22 and FY23 commercial prices.

Because FY23 commercial prices had fallen across the board, the overall Q4FY22 savings percentage fell by several percentage points when using the new FY23 commercial prices.

While there are some commercial prices that have increased, these services do not constitute a significant enough portion of the services purchased from GSA to counteract the price decreases on other services

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.

GSA has been working across the Federal community to assist agencies in transitioning into the competitively awarded EIS program. Transition is a long, complex process spanning multiple years. While a number of agencies have or will complete their transitions on time, several require more time. The purpose of this sole source award is to provide such agencies with additional time to complete their transition. Large Cabinet level departments such as DOJ and

DHS have requested an extension and have confirmed, at the highest level, that they cannot move to another provider sooner. GSA is continuing to work with these agencies and has asked

OMB to provide assistance in ensuring greater progress with transition. GSA remains committed to ensuring all Federal agencies transition from the Networx and LSA contracts to

EIS.

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. 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 through 31 May 2026. 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 EIS multiple award IDIQ contracts are the follow-on contracts to provide the services currently provided under this purchase order. The GSA conducted a FAR Part 15 full and open competition to award the EIS IDIQ contracts to replace all its legacy telecommunications contracts. On July 31, 2017, GSA awarded the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract to nine (9) contractors. All EIS task orders are subject to FAR Part 16.505 fair opportunity procedures. This extension is required to provide agencies the extra time required for them to transition those services off of this purchase order to their EIS task order or soon to be awarded task order.

Customer agencies are responsible for their transition from the legacy contracts to EIS and are in various stages of completing transition. GSA has provided significant assistance to agencies in the years since the award of EIS to aid in each phase of the transition. Agencies planning on using the Networx, WITS 3, and LSA contracts extension periods are required to sign a MOU with GSA acknowledging that during the additional time period, agencies will have responsibility to transition all remaining services to EIS or another acquisition solution or implement a contingency plan by 5/31/26.

GSA has had limited information and visibility into agencies’ transition progress in the past. The

MOU for agencies using extensions from 6/1/24 through 5/31/26 requires increased transparency and monitoring on agency transition status. Increased visibility will encourage agencies to transition faster and allow agencies to recognize earlier that contingency plans must be implemented by the customer agency to avoid disconnects after 5/31/26.

GSA is not a mandatory source for the telecom services and agencies have the option to choose the procurement vehicle that best suits their needs. GSA does not have the authority to hold agencies accountable to meet the agencies’ transition plan deadlines, however, GSA has no intention of considering further extension of this contract. Any further sole source procurement needs will be executed by customer agencies’ Contracting Officers if needed.

Lastly, to minimize or eliminate the need for non-competitive extensions in the future, GSA will apply transition lessons learned to all EIS follow on procurement activities.

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: _______________________

GSA Contracting Officer’s Representative

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, and that a brand name is justified and reasonably available.

___________________________ Date: _______________________

GSA Contracting Officer

5/15/2024

5/15/2024