Sources Sought Notice.docx

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR INFORMATION ONLY: THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTES/PROPOSALS OR AN INVITATION FOR BIDS.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for quotations or proposals. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary and will be used only for market research purposes to determine availability of sources, commerciality, and competitive strategy. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs associated with any response to this notice as incurred by prospective contractors.

Project Title:

Provide Telecommunication Services for Dedicated Internet Access and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) About ABMC:

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an independent agency established under authority of Chapter 21 of Title 36 U.S.C. Its mission is to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of the United States armed forces. It accomplishes this mission through the administration, operation, and maintenance of commemorative cemeteries and memorials in 17 countries around the world, including the United States.

Objectives:

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is seeking capable sources for providing telecommunications services for Tier 1 fiber dedicated internet access and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). The anticipated period of performance will be for twelve (12) consecutive months beginning from the Date of Award. The potential and applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes assigned to this procurement are 517111 “Wired Telecommunications Carriers” with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees and 517810 “All Other Telecommunications” with a small business size standard of $40.0M.

The government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to provide supplies with those described in this notice.

THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE ACQUISITION STRATEGY.

Overview:

ABMC contracted its current fiber aggregator provider GTT to build the physical connectivity between the provider's network to ABMC's cemeteries and offices. However, current speeds range from only 100Mb/s at several cemetery sites, to 1Gb/s at Arlington, Virginia and Paris, France offices. The current contract term is through approximately July 2025, and the remaining contract term is through July 14, 2026.

Thus, ABMC is seeking a fiber dedicated Internet access provider (Contractor) to provide Tier I broadband connectivity and Internet services to its global sites and offices.

ABMC's goals in issuing this RFI are to:

· Identify strategies for connecting ABMC global sites, and Superintendents' living/residential quarters located within cemetery grounds to reliable, modern, and secure broadband and to stimulate interest in providing last-mile broadband access to all ABMC sites.

Please note that two separate broadband needs and funding sources are identified, including ABMC official sites outlined in Figure 1 below, and nearby Superintendent quarters, which are private residences with non-commercial billing requirements.

· Identify ideas and/or recommendations on how to speed up any necessary construction and deployment of broadband infrastructure to support ABMC events.

· Identify options to provide broadband up to 10Gb/s for ABMC events.

· Identify suggestions on how ABMC can leverage partnerships, utilize existing assets, and/or take other steps to expedite broadband deployment and reduce costs.

· Identify potential challenges and/or barriers to the expansion of fiber to Superintendent quarters.

· Identify gaps in coverage areas, access, speeds, affordability, and reliability, and methods to obtain such data.

· Obtain information on potential technology solutions that might enable broadband access for remote ABMC sites.

· Identify regional considerations that be relevant to ABMC's ability to meet its business goals.

Scope:

Contractor shall provide all management, personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to Engineer, Furnish, Install and Test (EFI&T) fiber optic cabling and associated man holes, hand holes, and duct paths between the provider's nearest and/or most optimized route to ABMC's sites and cemeteries' network closet and the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendents quarters, using Residential Fiber (FTTH). Contractor may use existing single strand fiber where available on ABMC premises and do not need to furnish new fiber cable(s) to the network closet.

Secondly, Contractor shall provide Tier I Internet Service Provider (ISP) connections and related security services (e.g. site monitoring, DDoS) for all ABMC sites utilizing the physical network.

The proposed service must have the ability to deliver bandwidth capacity:

· ABMC sites:

· 1Gb/s to ABMC's Arlington and Paris offices,

· 1Gbp/s to all other sites with burstable rate up/bring in up to 10Gb/s on an as needed monthly basis to support events or to upgrade to 10Gb/s, SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

All interested sources must submit a capabilities package and questions to be answered to the primary point of contact listed below, no later than (NLT) 09:00 AM EST on April 10, 2024.

AT A MINIMUM, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE POC LISTED IN THIS NOTICE:

1. Confirm you qualify for under following NAICS Code: 517111 - Wired Telecommunications Carriers and 517810 - All Other Telecommunications.

2. If the proposed NAICS is not the customary or applicable NAICS relative to the needs description, include your firm’s proposed NAICS and rationale for the different NAICS.

3. A positive statement of your intention to submit a proposal to an upcoming solicitation as a prime contractor.

4. Provide firm’s UEI Number and socioeconomic status.

5. Evidence of recent (within the last five years) experience with work similar in type and scope to include:

a. Contract Numbers

b. Project Titles

c. Dollar Amounts

d. Percent and complete description of work self-performed.

e. Customer points of contact with current telephone number and email address.

f. Geographical Relevance

Attachments:

1. Draft Performance Work Statement

2. Questions for Interested Vendors

3. Question and Answer Template for Vendors