Responses_to_Questions-_RFP_NNG16534898R.pdf

Responses to Questions, Continued May 27, 2016

QUESTION 45: The Government refers to Coverage Enhancing Equipment as equipment and associated cabling that helps improve RF signal in poor coverage areas such as basements and low-lying areas. Please provide additional information on Coverage Enhancing Equipment and related components. Coverage enhancement approaches and needs can vary greatly depending on the specific building being addressed, making it difficult to assign a fixed price applicable to all buildings. How should vendors address this?

RESPONSE 45: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all offerings related to coverage enhancing equipment. This allows NASA to issue Task Orders to purchase coverage enhancing equipment for the Term of the contract.

QUESTION 46: The quantity is listed as 8 months. If the project schedule gets delayed through unexpected events (weather, vendor, government, etc.), how will the quantity and contract percentage for operation and maintenance be adjusted?

RESPONSE 46: Adjustments to the contract will be handled on a case by case basis, and in accordance with clause FAR 52.212-4 entitled “Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items.

QUESTION 47: Please provide building drawing for the Greentech-IV Building (L40) so the appropriate in-building design can be developed. Does this building currently have an in-building system, such as a bi-directional amplifier (BDA) system, to provide in-building LMR coverage?

RESPONSE 47: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings or tunnels. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

NASA expects that the coverage enhancing in Greentech IV and building 31 will continue to work with the P25 system, therefore, the requirements for indoor areas specified above apply to buildings that contain coverage enhancing equipment. The additional information about Greentech IV (L40) provided below is for informational purposes only.

Greentech-IV (L40) contains an A and B building separated by a lobby. The total building space is approximately 120,000 square feet. Building A is a two-story brick measuring approximately 29,812 square feet at ground level and top of the parapet is 21.2.2 feet. Building B is also a two-story brick building measuring 29,898 square feet at ground level and top of the parapet is

198.4 feet. The building has a bi-directional amplifier (BDA) with a HA direction gain antenna.

QUESTION 48: Please provide the in building and tunnel coverage requirements. Do any of these locations currently use a BDA system?

RESPONSE 48: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings or tunnels. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

NASA expects that the coverage enhancing in Greentech IV and building 31 will continue to work with the P25 system, therefore, the requirements for indoor areas specified above apply to buildings that contain coverage enhancing equipment. The additional information about Greentech IV (L40) provided below is for informational purposes only.

The bi-directional amplifier (BDA) and associated cabling located in the basement of Building 31 at Greenbelt provides RF coverage to Building 31A in the substation (distance of approximately

381 feet), from Building 31 to Building 32 (distance of approximately 481 feet) and from Building 32 to Building 33 (distance of approximately 746 feet).

QUESTION 49: Coverage in buildings must be verified during acceptance testing but no buildings are identified. What are the required buildings for this coverage standard, and what is the building loss where indoor coverage is required?

RESPONSE 49: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings or tunnels. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

QUESTION 50: What are the technical requirements/description for functionality/ performance standard desired for Coverage Enhancing Equipment & related components each?

RESPONSE 50: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings or tunnels. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

QUESTION 51: What are the technical requirements/description for functionality/ performance standard desired for GPS Locator EACH?

RESPONSE 51: The term ‘GPS locator’ was intended to represent a device that could provide timing for the simulcast deployment at Wallops; however, the information that NASA included in the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) is strictly an example of how the Offeror is expected to fill-out the table . The Offeror is expected to remove these examples and populate the table with all hardware and software that could potentially be of use to NASA over the Term of the Contract.

QUESTION 52: “Each volume of the proposal shall specify the relevant evaluation criteria…” and “a matrix showing where…the evaluation criteria of this RFP are satisfied.”

Each volume (if provided) in and of itself satisfies the evaluation criteria. When requesting that relevant evaluation criteria be specified, is NASA actually referring to the information requested per sections A.5.7, A.5.8, A.5.9, and A.5.10?

With regards to the matrix, what evaluation criteria is being referred to? Is NASA actually referring to the information requested per section A.5.8 – TECHNICAL APPROACH

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS?

Please clarify what evaluation criteria needs to be referenced in each volume, and within the Cross Reference Matrix.

RESPONSE 52: The compliance matrix requirement has been removed from the RFP. (See Amendment 3)

QUESTION 53: What are the technical requirements for the BASIC hand-held radio?

RESPONSE 53: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The requirements for a BASIC hand-held radio can be found under Section 4.0 of the revised SOW. (See Amendment 3)

QUESTION 54: What are the technical requirements for the MID-LEVEL hand-held radio?

RESPONSE 54: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The requirements for a MID-LEVEL hand-held radio can be found under Section 4.0 of the revised SOW. (See Amendment 3)

QUESTION 55: What are the technical requirements for the ADVANCED hand-held radio?

RESPONSE 55: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The minimum requirements for an ADVANCED hand-held radio can be found under Section 4.0 of the revised SOW. (See Amendment 3)

QUESTION 56: What are the technical requirements for the RUGGEDIZED hand-held radio?

RESPONSE 56: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The requirements for a RUGGEDIZED hand-held radio can be found under Section 4.0 of the

QUESTION 57: What are the technical requirements for the vehicle-mounted radio?

RESPONSE 57: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The requirements for the vehicle-mounted radio can be found under Section 4.0 of the revised SOW. (See Amendment 3)

QUESTION 58: What are the technical requirements for the desktop radio (base station)?

RESPONSE 58: NASA expects the Vendor to populate the Price Matrix and Equipment List (Attachment B) with all hardware and software that could potentially be of interest to NASA over the Term of the contract. This includes the primary LMR components, ancillary components, license fees, accessories, and items that may be required to expand the capabilities of the LMR system. NASA’s goal is to facilitate budgetary planning and greatly simplify the task order procurement process by including all required items on the Price Matrix and Equipment List.

The requirements for a desktop radio (base station) can be found under Section 4.0 of the

QUESTION 59: Coverage in tunnels is also included with acceptance testing (SoW 2.8.6) but no details are provided about the tunnels (locations, lengths, etc.) What are the tunnel locations, lengths and access means (e.g. length of cable run from one end of a tunnel to roof or outside wall) for potential donor antennas?

RESPONSE 59: Contractors are not expected to propose a design that includes equipment to enhance coverage within buildings or tunnels. The coverage requirements set forth in SOW sections 2.3.4 and 2.4.6, and the associated DAQ and BER measurements, are only relevant for outdoor locations. Coverage requirements for indoor and underground locations are treated differently.

NASA and the Contractor will engage in a coverage assessment pursuant to SOW section 2.7.5 to establish a baseline for coverage provided by the legacy LMR system inside buildings and underground tunnels. The same procedures and tools will be used to repeat this coverage assessment within buildings and tunnels during Acceptance Testing for the P25 LMR system.

Coverage measurements obtained during acceptance testing will be compared the baseline coverage provided by the legacy system on a location-by-location basis. The coverage provided by the P25 system shall meet or exceed coverage provided by the legacy system pursuant to SOW Section 2.8.6, and the Contractor shall bear all material and labor cost to improve coverage at any location within buildings or tunnels where coverage degraded after transitioning to the P25 system.

NASA expects that the coverage enhancing in Greentech IV and building 31 will continue to work with the P25 system, therefore, the requirements for indoor areas specified above apply to buildings that contain coverage enhancing equipment. The additional information about Greentech IV (L40) provided below is for informational purposes only.

The bi-directional amplifier (BDA) and associated cabling located in the basement of Building 31 at Greenbelt provides RF coverage to Building 31A in the substation (distance of approximately 381 feet), from Building 31 to Building 32 (distance of approximately 481 feet) and from Building 32 to Building 33 (distance of approximately 746 feet).

QUESTION 60: Please identify the quantities of all existing legacy Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) Portables and Mobiles and Repeaters that will be re-used on the new NextGen Radio System at both NASA Goddard and NASA Wallops. Please provide model numbers and features for each portable, mobile and Repeater. How many of the subscribers are upgradable to P25 Phase 2?

RESPONSE 60: There is no plan to reuse the existing EDACS portables and mobiles.

QUESTION 61: The contractor will be provided with "written concurrence to proceed with the implementation of the LMR system" after the Critical Design Review (CDR) (SOW Section 2.7.4). The Test Readiness Review (TRR) occurs after the system is installed.

According to the schedule in section A.1.1, the TRR occurs 28 days after the CDR (SAT is 14 days after CDR and TRR is 14 days after SAT). Is our interpretation correct that the Government requires the system to be delivered, installed and ready for acceptance testing within 28 days after the CDR?

RESPONSE 61: The Government’s new P(25) system shall be delivered, installed and ready for acceptance testing within 28 calendar days after the Critical Design Review (CDR).

QUESTION 62: Is the schedule for the items defined in the SOW listing required completion dates? Several items require review and approval by the Government before proceeding to the next step (for example, the System Design Review (SDR), Critical Design Review (CDR) and Test Readiness Review TRR). How will the review/approval process impact the specified completion dates?

RESPONSE 62: The schedule for the items defined in the SOW listing are required completion dates. In accordance with clause A.1.17 GSFC 52.246-92 ACCEPTANCE—SERVICES (SEP

2013), The Contracting Officer or authorized representative will accomplish acceptance at the

Goddard Space Flight Center, the Wallops Flight Facility, or as specified in individual Task

Orders issued.

Approval/acceptance shall be deemed to have occurred on the 7th day after the Contractor has delivered the supplies or services in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

The Contractor shall not be entitled to payment of a request for milestones payment prior to successful accomplishment and acceptance by the Government of the milestone event.

QUESTION 63: Is the operation and maintenance milestone required to be 20% of the total firm fixed price for the Basic Performance Period for the Core Requirement? Can the vendor provide a separate monthly price for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) effort?

RESPONSE 63: The milestone requirement has been revised from 20% to 15% of the total firm fixed price for the Basic Performance Period of the Core Requirement. (See Amendment 3).

QUESTION 64: The Test Readiness Review (TRR) deliverable is requested 14 Calendar days after SAT. This deliverable is typically perceived as a step prior to actual testing.

Can the Government please confirm if this deliverable was meant to be termed “14 days after the SAT Plan” is submitted”?

RESPONSE 64: The Test Readiness Review is due 14 calendar days after Site Acceptance Test (SAT) Plan has been approved by the Government.

QUESTION 65: The Site Acceptance Test (SAT) is requested 21 calendar days after SAT.

We understands the Site Acceptance Test and SAT to be the same. Can the Government please confirm the timeframe for this deliverable?

RESPONSE 65: A Test Readiness Review (TRR) will be presented no longer than 14 calendar days after NASA approves the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) Plan. NASA approval of the TRR milestone officially marks the beginning of a two week Cutover Period. The SAT will be performed during the Cutover Period, along with training and Assessment & Accreditation (A&A) activities.

QUESTION 66: Is the vendor able to suggest other payment milestone events and contract percentages? Some of the percentages seem to be disproportionate to the effort.

RESPONSE 66: The Government has established payment milestone events based on the significant events that occur throughout the project. Clause A.1.3. MILESTONE PAYMENT SCHEDULE has been edited to allow Offeror’s an opportunity to propose percentages in several areas.

Responses to Questions received at Next Generation Land Mobile Radio (Greenbelt) Site Visit

QUESTION 67: Can you please confirm the model # and brand (including gain) of both transmit and receive antennas at Goddard RF Site?

RESPONSE 67: At the Greenbelt Radio Frequency (RF) site, the transmit antenna is a Bird 10 dB gain (model 101-56-10-0-03). The Greenbelt RF receive antenna is a DB Spectra 6 dB gain (model DS-4A06F36U-N). The transmit antenna is P25 Phase II compliant.

QUESTION 68: Please confirm transmit and receive height at Goddard RF Site, given a tower height of approximately 200 feet.

RESPONSE 68: At the Goddard RF site, the tower height is 200’. The height of the transmit antenna is 130’ at the base of the antenna and the receive antenna is 200’ at the base of the antenna.

QUESTION 69: Request extension of proposal submittal until 2 weeks after all documentation is published by the Government.

RESPONSE 69: At this time the response date for proposals shall remain 2 PM EST on June 7, 2016.

QUESTION 70: Should combiners and multi-couplers be replaced?

RESPONSE 70: Yes, combiners and multi-couplers shall be replaced.

The legacy combiners and multi-couplers are available for use during the Cutover Period, while the legacy system and P25 system operate in parallel, however the design must ensure that new equipment is used for Acceptance Testing.

QUESTION 71: Please confirm if antennas should be revised or replaced at Greenbelt RF Site.

RESPONSE 71: The transmit antenna is P25 Phase II compliant and should be reused. The receive antenna is not P25 Phase II compliant and should be replaced.

The antennas were installed in 2015 and NASA bases the decision whether they should be reused on the capability to support P25 Phase II. Contractors shall reply to this response to recommend a different concept for the reuse of antennas if they feel that NASA approach is not ideal.

QUESTION 72: At Goddard RF site, will transmission line be replaced?

RESPONSE 72: The Government does not intend to replace the existing transmission line.

Contractors shall reply to this response to recommend a different concept for the reuse of transmission lines if they feel that NASA’s approach is not ideal.

QUESTION 73: Reference Q&A #34, please confirm that the CSS and repeater equipment are to be located in the same building at Greenbelt.

RESPONSE 73: At Greenbelt, the Core Switching System (CSS), repeater equipment, as well as any additional system infrastructure equipment shall be installed in Building 28B. Antennas are located on the adjacent tower.

QUESTION 74: When do you anticipate the new and remaining questions be answered and the revised Statement of Work?

RESPONSE 74: All questions submitted to the by the RFP question due date have been responded to under amendment 2 and 3. Questions received during the NEXT Generation LMR Site Visit at Greenbelt have been addressed under amendment 3.

QUESTION 75: When is the Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM)?

RESPONSE 75: Per A.1.1, the Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) is due 14 calendar days after Contract effective date.

QUESTION 76: When will the SOW Revisions be posted?

RESPONSE 76: The SOW Revisions are included under amendment #3.

QUESTION 77: When will remaining questions be answered and published?

RESPONSE 77: See response to question #74

Question 78: Detailed pricing for the specific “CORE” requirement for replacement system at Goddard and Wallops is being provided and is the basis of the award evaluation, whereas specific task order pricing is not being provided or evaluated for the IDIQ portion of the award.

How is NASA able to award the IDIQ portion of the contract without receiving specific competitive task order pricing for these additional locations? i.e. shouldn’t award of the IDIQ contract and subsequent task orders for additional NASA locations be subject to competition? Did NASA process a J&A or other authorization to exclude these additional location from competition requirement?

RESPONSE 78: This procurement is a Single Award, Firm Fixed Price Contract with IDIQ components. The CORE requirements of the contract are identified under section 1.4 of the Statement of Work (SOW). The IDIQ Requirements are identified under section 1.5.

The rates proposed in Attachment B IDIQ FIXED PRICE RATES MATRIX, will be assessed for reasonableness. The Total Core and Components (CY1 - CY5) dollar amount under Exhibit 1 will be presented to the Selecting Official as well as any price risk associated with the proposal.

QUESTION 79: Can the government qualify and characterize the scope of the vendors' support for quarterly vulnerability scans including examples of the specific support tasks or scenarios for which vendor would need to provide support, a characterization of the support required including on-site, remote, or both, and an estimation of the amount of support time a vendor should plan for?

RESPONSE 79: Vulnerability scanning is a NASA activity that is expected to require little to no support from the contractor. In NASA’s experience, older systems are sometimes unable to handle the increased load that scanning tools introduce, and vulnerability scanning has been known to bring down operational systems, similar to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. This requirement was included to make sure NASA had a mechanism to obtain immediate contractor support in the unexpected case that vulnerability scanning adversely affects the operational capability of the P25 system.

During the SAT, this requirement will be verified by ensuring that the P25 system functions nominally during vulnerability scans. The Contractor will not be expected to participate in routine scans if testing confirms that the system can handle the increased load.

QUESTION 80: Can the government identify the format of the GFE vulnerability scanning data that the vendor is being requested to review? Is the data in raw scanner report format such as .nessus file or are the reports in the format of a spreadsheet or data that can be imported into a spreadsheet? Vendors may not use the same scanning software as NASA.

RESPONSE 80: The Contactor is not expected to review and assess raw scan reports. If scanning discovers any critical, high, or medium rated vulnerabilities, the information specific to these vulnerabilities will be provided to the Contractor for an assessment. Vulnerabilities that can be addressed should be remediated in a timely manner and a Plan of Actions and Milestones (POAM) should be created for vulnerabilities that cannot be addressed.

Vendor involvement in the assessment and remediation of issues discovered through vulnerability scanning is expected to be minimal. A strong security profile should be maintained through patch management and other security controls specified in the SOW, which should result in very few vulnerabilities for the Contractor to assess.

QUESTION 81: Please confirm that this refers to a total of four system administration terminals in the system (two at Greenbelt and two at Wallops). Where will each of these system administration terminals be located on their respective campuses?

RESPONSE 81: The location of System Administration terminals will be provided to the Vendor at the TIM. NASA does not consider this question to be relevant at this stage of the acquisition.

NASA will provide all cabling between LMR components, so Contractor proposals should not have to consider the location of terminal in their proposals.

QUESTION 82: Can you please indicate these locations at their respective campuses?

RESPONSE 82: See response to question #81.

QUESTION 83: Given the Government's responses to the previous four Information Security related questions (29, 30, 31 & 32), coupled with the additional Information being sought in the new Information Security questions being asked above, would the Government consider either increasing the page count of the Technical Approach Proposal Volume by 5 pages or excluding the Information Security Section of the

Technical Volume from the existing 20 page limit? This increased page limit would allow vendor's to fully describe their approach to satisfying the extensive Information Security requirements.

RESPONSE 83: Clause 5.6 of the model contract has been revised to increase the page count of the Technical Approach Proposal Volume. (SEE AMENDMENT 3)