JOFOC PR12503985 VSAT sole source finalized.pdf

Justification and Approval US Embassy Khartoum, Sudan

PR12503985 Khartoum VSAT

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR SIMPLFIED ACQUISITIONS

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Pursuant to FAR Subpart 6.3

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and 41 U.S. Code

1901, the Office of Acquisition Management Regional Procurement Support Office

Frankfurt proposes to award a contract based on other than full and open competition for

Satellite (VSAT) Internet Equipment and Satellite Services comprising 18 Mbps download /18Mbps Upload C-Band (Carrier-in-Carrier) Dedicated Connectivity on behalf of Diplomatic Technology (DT) at the US Embassy Khartoum, Sudan. The estimated cost for the base year is USD 234,000.00. The total estimated cost for the base year plus two option years is USD 702,000.00.

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

This Justification and Approval (J&A) outlines the necessity for the issuance of a firm-fixed-price sole source contract from Delta Bridge, Inc. for VSAT services. Prior to the break of the ongoing civil war, Sudan had serious problems with constant internet outages because of the unreliable services providers (ISPs) in Khartoum. With the outbreak of the war, two of the more reliable internet service providers (ISPs), Sudatel and Canar, which the Embassy worked with, are having additional difficulties providing services. Constant outages and degradation of their services are caused by the destruction of Sudan’s infrastructure and the inability to rebuilt/repair it. Furthermore, both ISPs feed from the same primary provider so there is not a true separate connection for redundancy or backup. All ISPs in the Sudan are under government control and have been in the past by the Government. On a day-to-day level, all these have negatively impacted Post’s ability to maintain communications with the Embassy’s Caretakers and

DS’ ability to monitor the compound. increasing workplace stress and posing life/safety and security risks for our staff in Khartoum. Therefore, a sole source purchase from Delta

Bridge is justified to support for essential communication infrastructure. The base year period of performance is twelve months.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the Department’s needs.

Equipment and services must be as follows:

a. A secondary ISP that must be different from the current ISP and have separate infrastructure connecting to the internet to prevent both ISPs being down at the same time.

b. Provide a high quality dedicated and unlimited bandwidth, not shared, through VSAT cloudburst band of 18 MBps/18Mbps.

c. Core transmission: Fault-tolerant satellite connection to the Telecommunications

Service Entrance Facilities (TSEF) as directed by the COR.

d. Always on 24/4/265 and 99.9 percent availability with a packet loss of less than

.51, included in a service level agreement (SLA).

e. Provide equipment that can perform in harsh environment – high heat, arid, sandy, and dusty with annual dust storms.

f. The latency as measured in Round Trip Time (RTT) of packets will be less than 700 milliseconds for Internet Service.

g. Minimum of four public internet routable addresses from the internet address. A masking block from subnet of /28 and must not be filtered or blocked for any IPSEC ports or protocols. No Network Address Translation (NAT).

h. Support all Transmission of all IP protocols (including but not limited to ICMP, UDP, TCP and IPSEC) with no filtering, firewalls, proxies or stateful inspections.

i. Able to ping 169.252.0.0/16 and 169.253.0.0/16.

j. Provide required physical interface needed for termination with encryption devices – i.e. gigabit, LC fiber connection, multimode fiber: RJ45 10/100baseT; Gigabit Interface

(Optional)

k. Support installation of customer supplied VPN encryption device.

l. Provide all cleared labor, material, equipment, and services.

m. Provide service support and monitoring of the satellite network 24x7x365.

n. Provide and interface for monitors internet connectivity and bandwidth.

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

10 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)(B) or 41 U.S.C.. 253(d)(1)(B)

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

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the action require use of the authority cited.

a. Given the unreliable internet in Sudan, shared internet infrastructure between all IPS for the internet gateway, lack of ISPs in neighboring countries, Post needs to acquire satellite (VSAT) internet services for communication with the compound’s Caretakers and more importantly for post security team to monitor the compound.

b. Post believes that the best source of the services needed is available from Delta Bridge a Department of State-sanctioned international communications systems integrator, more importantly current provider with the equipment already in place, specializing in terrestrial and satellite network management in many austere and hostile environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and sub-Saharan Africa. A significant majority of their staff have served in these locations over the course of their Military, Department of State, or Department of Defense careers. Delta Bride has considerable experience in this field, is financially sound, and has additional expertise and resources to draw on since it became a subsidiary of Centra Technologies which supports Homeland Security, NSA, DOD and the intelligence community. Delta Bridge currently provides services to multiple U.S. Embassies in the Africa region facing exact or similar technology limitations. Delta Bridge is State Department approved, provides internet that meet government regulation and security standards, does not use Huawei equipment in their infrastructure, and has multiple shipping means to include, but not limited to Unclassified and Classified pouch. Delta bridge equipment can be connected directly to the OpenNet routing switch.

c. Delta Bridge is committed to supporting and is compliant with all security requirements for personnel, facilities, sub-contractors, and program security. Delta

Bridge brings an extensive, useful, and customer-recognized history of security management and execution with their customers. Delta Bridge has accredited storage at both its Charlottesville, VA, and Alexandria offices. While this project is

UNCLASSIFIED, please note that Delta Bridge employees are cleared to the TOP

SECRET level, if required. They adhere to all applicable State Department and other

Federal Acquisition Regulations and will safeguard and protect any, and all non-public government data. Delta Bridge guarantees their connections and have a 24x7x365

Network Operations Center (NOC) to support trouble tickets, as well as planned and unplanned outages.

6. A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, include whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

N/A – With the ongoing civil war in Sudan, it’s extremely unlikely that a reliable company could visit Sudan and assess what is needed. Furthermore, if awarded the contract to be able to import and safely delivered the required equipment. Lastly, Post

Khartoum cannot afford to go through trial and error in this area. The security and integrity of the NEC is at stake.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to be fair and reasonable based on comparisons between the IGCE, market research, and the price paid by other posts.

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

Sudan does not have satellite providers.

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

The ongoing civil war. The civil conflicts extremely limits competitiveness and the ability for any provider to safely execute any work in Sudan.

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

Not applicable.

11. A statement of any actions the agency will take to remove or overcome any future barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. Include a statement that this J&A for other than full and open competition will be published on FedBizOpps in accordance with FAR Section 6.305 within 14 days of award (or within 30 days if the J&A is for unusual and compelling urgency.)

This J&A for other than full and open competition will be published on sam.gov in accordance with FAR Section 6.305 within 14 days of award.

CERTIFICATIONS

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION AQM QA Plan

I certify that this justification is accurate and contains complete data necessary to support the recommendation for other than full and open competition.

SIGNATURE:

Ernesto Escoto Date

Management Officer / Diplomatic

Technology Officer

US Embassy Khartoum, Sudan

CONTRACTING CERTIFICATION AQM QA Plan

I certify that this submission is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and that it contains complete information necessary to enable other officials to make an informed recommendation for approval or disapproval.

David Machen Date

Branch Chief

Office of Acquisition Management

(A/OPE/AQM/IP – RPSOFR)

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION AQM QA Plan

I certify that this submission is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and that it contains complete information necessary to enable other officials to make an informed recommendation for approval or disapproval.

Nicolas A. Wilhelm Date

Acting Director

Office of Acquisition Management

(A/OPE/AQM/IP – RPSOFR)