RFI Internet Protocol Television 273FCCOCIOSN260002.pdf

Request for Information (RFI): Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. This Request for Information (RFI) for capability information does not constitute a request for bids, proposals, or quotes. Submission of any information in response to this market research survey is purely voluntary; and the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks an Enterprise Internet Protocol Television System solution and is reviewing market capabilities to transition from a legacy, hardware-heavy architecture to a centralized, scalable platform that eliminates physical set-top boxes, reduces operational overhead, and supports both hardware endpoints and desktop/mobile software users.

The FCC seeks to identify a vendor with a commercial off-the-shelf product to meet or exceed the Government’s minimum requirements. Vendors should provide product literature, details on full capabilities, and any relevant pricing information they wish for the FCC to consider as described below.

FCC Current Architecture vs. Objective

• HQ Current State: Multiple cable provider set-top boxes → HDMI output → IDT encoders → Multicast distribution → Ugoos AM6 decoders & Intevi Media Player/VLC.

• Current Operations Center State: The service provider has deployed the source boxes, with IR control routed into the Crestron processor. The processor distributes control signals to the tuners in the Operations Center, enabling full management of the video sources through the Crestron AV backbone and the Crestron touch-panel interface.

• Target State : A centralized IPTV headend hosted in a virtual/IP/cloud environment delivers all broadcast services through a unified middleware layer. The platform distributes multicast streams to 120 hardware endpoints, supports unicast delivery for up to 200 concurrent software-based users, and provides a dedicated service path to the Operations Center over a segmented network for isolation and performance assurance.

Please provide a detailed response addressing the following technical components.

IPTV Headend & Ingest Solution Describe how your solution achieves high-density, centralized ingest without relying on individual physical set-top boxes.

• Detail your approach to IP-based channel acquisition, virtualized tuners, or cloud-based channel aggregation.

• Explain your system's hardware or virtual architecture requirements for transcoding/encoding to H.264/H.265 and MPEG-TS/HLS/DASH.

• Specify how your headend ensures high availability (e.g., redundant power, network interfaces, failover mechanics).

Middleware & Management Platform Explain the capabilities of your IPTV Middleware and Administration Portal.

• Describe your Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data integration capabilities.

• Detail user authentication methods, specifically how your platform integrates with enterprise identity providers (Active Directory / Microsoft Entra ID).

• Explain your endpoint management capabilities (e.g., remote firmware updates, bulk provisioning, channel lineup pushes).

• Describe built-in logging, system health auditing, and viewership analytics. [1, 2]

Endpoints & Client Software The system must seamlessly output to both physical rooms and personal devices.

• Hardware: Recommend optimal hardware endpoints/decoders (compatible with Android-based decoders or smart displays) to replace the current Ugoos AM6 units.

• Software: Describe your software playback clients for Windows and macOS, native web players (Chrome/Edge), and mobile application availability.

• Confirm if your system can maintain a channel change latency of ≤ 2 seconds across both hardware and software endpoints.

Network Integration & Security

• Explain your platform’s compatibility with multicast routing (IGMPv2/v3) for hardware endpoints and unicast streaming for software users.

• Provide your standard Quality of Service (QoS) and VLAN segmentation recommendations.

• Detail the stream encryption standards supported by your platform (e.g., AES, DRM options) to secure content across the corporate network.

Information Requested from Vendors To assist us in evaluating potential solutions, please structure your response to include the following sections:

Section A: Corporate Overview & Qualifications

1. Brief company profile, years in the IPTV industry, and core competencies.

2. Description of at least two (2) similar enterprise deployments involving at least 100+ hardware endpoints and 200+ software users.

Section B: Technical Solution Proposal

1. A conceptual Architecture Diagram of your proposed system from ingest to endpoint.

2. Bill of Materials (BOM) outline showing proposed hardware (headend, decoders) vs.

software/virtual components.

3. Confirmation of adherence to the core metrics (e.g., ≤ 2-second channel change latency).

Section C: Support, SLAs, and Training https://www.biometricupdate.com/202601/fbi-seeks-industry-input-on-classified-identity-based-biometric-system https://sam.gov/opp/df7fc65622c54ea08a2c239f3a99e6a3/view

1. Overview of your Tier 1-3 technical support structures and Remote Monitoring capabilities.

2. Standard Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for system outages and hardware replacements.

3. Summary of your administrator training programs and documentation packages (runbooks, architecture blueprints).

Section D: Budgetary Pricing Estimation Please provide non-binding, rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) pricing broken down by:

• Headend Hardware / Software Licensing

• Middleware & User Access Licenses (for 120 hardware / 200 software users)

• Recommended Hardware Endpoints (Per-unit cost)

• Professional Services (Design, Network Integration, Implementation, Training)

• Annual Support & Maintenance Costs (Options for 1, 2, and 3 years)

Response Format: The Response should be sent to the Contracting Officer via email at, Susan.Nicholso@fcc.gov not later than 4:00 PM EST, August 28, 2026

The subject line should read: RFI RESPONSE: IPTV, and Company Name. The information should be sent in sufficient time in order to be received not later than the Response Deadline. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information as part of any resultant solicitation(s). A Q&A period is not provided with this notice and any questions may be documented in the Company’s capability statements submittal.

In addition to the information above, a cover page should include:

• Business Information o UEI o Company Name o Company Address o Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address o GSA or other Government Contract Vehicles, appropriate for this RFI o Type of Company/business size (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.)

• Provide direct, complete and concise response, in an MS Word or PDF document to allow the government to determine the organization’s qualifications to meet the minimum requirements. The response should not exceed 20 pages.

The response deadline for this RFI is 4:00 PM EST, August 28, 2026. Please ensure that your response includes the name, email address, and phone number of the contact person at your organization.

The FCC appreciates your time and effort in providing a response to this RFI as we perform market research. Please be advised that this RFI does not obligate the government to award a mailto:Susan.Nicholso@fcc.gov contract, pay for the information provided in response, or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any of the information submitted. The government reserves the right to use information provided by the respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. After a review of the responses received, the Government may or may not initiate the solicitation process. Any solicitation resulting from this notice may be published via the appropriate means and in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. However, responses to this notice shall not be considered adequate responses to any potential or resulting solicitation. Response to this notice is strictly voluntary and not a prerequisite to participate in any formal solicitation process that may take place in the future. Yet, it should be noted that information gathered through this notice may significantly influence our acquisition strategy. All interested parties will be required to respond separately to any solicitation posted as a result of this RFI notice.