Justification and Approval RAA signed.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Agency, Contracting Activity and Document

The National Science Foundation, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Astronomical Sciences Division proposes a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition for the National Radio Quiet Zone:

Emergency/Broadband Telecommunications and Modernization Project 2.

2. Action Being Approved

The action to be approved is the solicitation and award of a contract to Roberson and Associates, LLC (“RAA”) of Schaumburg, IL to provide engineering study services toward a long-term need to address improvement of communications in the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), while maintaining NRQZ-protected missions and equities. This will be a Time and Materials contract.

3. Description of Services

The contractor will provide engineering services toward improving emergency, civil, voice, and broadband telecommunications while protecting and enhancing Federal facility operations in the NRQZ. This effort will focus on broad, strategic, and sustainable solutions in short, medium, and long-term time frames.

The contractor will:

• Evaluate the current state of private and emergency telecommunications in the NRQZ, identifying stakeholders and stakeholder needs and developing metrics. The contractor will need strong familiarity with telecommunications standards and systems.

• Evaluate federal systems protected by the unique NRQZ environment, developing metrics for interference that impact missions. The contractor will need to be able to evaluate scientific and national security-related systems.

• Take into account NRQZ characteristics. The NRQZ is unique in the United States, in that the electromagnetic environment is coordinated on a case-by-case basis to protect stakeholders. Familiarity with the rules and regulations regarding the NRQZ, terrain and other specific conditions is critical.

• Produce recommendations that include the enhancement of communications systems while protecting specific equities that require a radio-quiet and specially coordinated environment generally unavailable without such protections. This includes radio astronomy systems and national security interests, from unclassified to highly classified.

• Collaborate with other contractors working on related issues at this time.

Deliverables from this study will include:

• Monthly written progress reports and summaries of meetings

• A current telecommunications report detailing stakeholder characteristics, missions, operations, and telecommunications needs

• A federal facilities report on current and future needs of federal systems in the

NRQZ, as well as the current state of interference issues.

• An interim course of action (COA) report defining possible COAs, plausible future scenarios and outcomes, and descriptions and qualitative assessments vs taking no action.

• An annual project report

• An interim quantitative analysis that projects for combinations of COAs characteristics of outcomes and costs

• A final project report

The estimated value of this acquisition is $500,000.

4. Statutory Authority

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

253 (c)(1), as implemented at FAR Part 6.303-1. RAA is the only responsible source with a unique combination of characteristics essential for providing the requested services.

5. Contractor’s Unique Qualifications

This authority is appropriate because these services are available from only one source with unique capabilities, IAW FAR 6.302-1(b)(1)(i).

After reviewing the Request For Information (RFI) responses and answers provided in the direct meetings, several unique characteristics were identified in one of the respondents critical to fulfillment of the contract, which calls for a combination of familiarity with the issues surrounding the NRQZ and federal missions protected by the NRQZ, emergency/public safety communications, and broadband/commercial communications, and proven world-class communications analytical capabilities leading to specialized solutions.

Roberson and Associates, LLC (“RAA”) is a small business. The submission from RAA additionally presented a set of unique capabilities crucial to carrying out this work. These capabilities include:

• Extensive experience with strategic and telecommunications analysis and consulting . This includes:

• Multiple past consulting projects for terrestrial-satellite, terrestrial-terrestrial, and commercial-DoD.

• Very significant direct experience with state/local public safety issues.

• Extensive familiarity with complex, multi-faceted telecommunications projects and analyzing challenges with full knowledge of available solutions and the ability to adapt these for individual projects, from multibillion-dollar issues to much smaller localized projects.

• According to RFI responses and subsequent information gathering, unparalleled analytical abilities and experience with implementing developed solutions. These abilities and experience include expertise in the use of models that can directly interface with existing NRQZ coordination efforts, and proven, foremost experience with NRQZ-specific issues as well as cutting-edge communication systems relevant to this effort.

• Team members with clearances sufficient to be aware of the needs of any federal equities within the NRQZ.

RAA affirms they have several team members with security clearances sufficient to interact with federal stakeholders and protect the mission of those stakeholders in carrying out the tasks of the contract.

No other respondent presented this set of qualifications.

6. Efforts Made to Obtain Competition

The National Science Foundation published an RFI on the government point of entry (GPE), SAM.gov - 49100423K0007, over a two-week period ending April 12, 2023 seeking potential contractors toward fulfillment of the need described herein, including both short- and long-term aspects of the project. This process resulted in nine submissions, of which eight were deemed responsive on the general subject matter to the RFI after initial review. NSF met with the remaining eight proposers for clarification of capabilities answers to questions posed in the RFI. Inquiries with the proposers addressed familiarity with the specific regulatory and environmental factors involved, as well as familiarity with public safety communications, past experience performing similar work, and the ability to interact with all stakeholders, including federal government stakeholders and those involved in national security matters.

Further efforts were made through the publication of a notice of intent to seek a sole-source contractor for this contract.

Respondents were evaluated on the capability to fulfill both the short- and long-term aspects of the project. This contract is focusing upon the near-term (acute need) aspects of the project discussed in the RFI.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Price

The Contracting Officer will determine whether the proposed estimated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable by cost and/or price analysis of the contractor’s proposal.

8. Market Survey

As stated in Item 6, the Government published a Request for Information with a call to submit inputs toward producing engineering reports and analyses for updating aspects of the National Radio Quiet Zone, including emergency services communications. Nine submissions were received, and of these, eight were deemed responsive on the general subject matter. The Government further met with these eight submitters to determine qualifications and capabilities.

While most of the submitters displayed a level of capability, they lacked the combination of qualifications necessary to successfully complete this long-term need described in this document.

9. Additional Information

The acute and long-term need for addressing sustainable communications through the proposed contract described here is time-sensitive; a lack of communication infrastructure, difficult terrain, and need for coordination of transmissions in order to protect NRQZ equities has created gaps in coverage for communications, strongly impacting economic factors for communities as radical new developments in communications take place in the wider world. The effort here is thus time-sensitive.

10. Other Sources Expressing an Interest

NSF received an informal expression of interest (via e-mail) from one individual.

Upon review of their capabilities, the NSF determined the individual did not contain the necessary attributes to fulfill the requirements. No additional responses were submitted.

11. Removing Barriers to Competition

As stated previously, the Government pursued an open process of requesting responses regarding carrying out the needed functions. All responsive inputs were evaluated and pursued with follow-up inquiries. The choice here to pursue a single source contract with a small business is based entirely on those inputs and inquiries toward the specific need at hand. The eventual implementation of any recommendations from this work will require further inquiries, and these services will likely be available from several vendors.

12. Certifications/Coordinations/Approval

Requesting Office Program Officer and Division Director (or Equivalent) certifications are required for all J&As.

REQUESTING OFFICE CERTIFICATION

Program Officer: I hereby certify that the facts presented in this Justification are current, completed and accurate.

Name: Jonathan Williams Date:

Director, (MPS/AST): I hereby concur with this Justification.

Name: Robert C. Smith Date

PROCURING OFFICE CERTIFICATION

Contracting Officer: I assure that a detailed analysis will be performed on all proposed prices to assure that they are fair and reasonable. I also certify that this Justification is current, complete and accurate.

Name Date

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION