Questions_and_Answers.pdf

Questions and Answers RFP # SPK33015R5742 for Cell phone services

1. Will there only be one package of 600 minutes or will there be multiple line rent packages?

As noted in Section 1 “The Schedule” under subsection III-A “Pricing” for the base and four option years on page 4 through 13 at S. No 1 and 2 of the pricing tables’ only two packages are required under this solicitation.

Is 600 minutes requirement fixed for packages or can we play around minutes?

Our minimum requirement for both the packages is 600 minutes as stated in Section 1 “The

Schedule” under subsection III-A “Pricing” for the base and four option years on page 4 through 13 at S. No 1 and 2 of the pricing tables. Offerors are required to submit their proposals in accordance with the solicitation requirements.

3. Is the embassy using any existing package of same specifications. If yes can we have existing average monthly bill amount of such subscriber.

As noted in S. No 1 and 2 in Section 1 “The Schedule” under subsection III-A “Pricing” for the base and four option years on page 4 through 13; embassy is using both these packages.

Monthly billing varies on the usage but we pay approximately 2-3 million rupees monthly on account of our mobile bills.

4. Mentioned quantities are minimum use quantities or just for reference? Can we get expected minimum quantities for all usage i.e. voice on/off net, SMS and Data?

It is hard to tell the exact monthly consumption as it varies month to month. The estimated quantities mentioned in the pricing table are just for cost evaluations. Actual usage may differ.

5. Is there any USA IDD calling & roaming Bucket requirement?

No, there is no bucket requirement.

6. There is no reference of bill waivers requested so will provided bill waivers hold value for this

RFP?

Monthly bill waivers are not requested under this solicitation.

7. What will be the credit limit of these connections?

There is no credit limitation on our current official connections.

8. What will be the minimum connection active count per month?

There are no minimum connections counts as this time.

9. For IR and IDD calling, IR SMS and GPRS, a single rate can be provided for a fixed destination, but for Rest of the World, how will the rate be provided since considerable variation in rates exists.

Average rate is also based on weighted average cost and that cannot be calculated without actual usage details. Also rate is different for mobile and landline for different countries.

See the pricing tables in Section 1 “The Schedule” under subsection III-A “Pricing” for the base and four option years on page 4 through 13 to tailor your rates in accordance with the solicitation.

10. Is the initial RFP submission deemed as final submission or will there be another round of RFP or negotiations.

Award may base on the initial offers or may require negotiations and/or clarification, if required.

11. If there is no unlimited Data package as every package has to be capped at certain GB. Will 10

GB be considered as unlimited?

Offerors are required to submit the pricing for unlimited data package as required in S. No 12 of the pricing tables for the base and four option years from pages 4 through 14 of the solicitation.

Unlimited data package is considered anything above our minimum requirement of 5GB data mentioned in the pricing table of the base and option years at S. No 2. However US Embassy has never experienced a single case of using data in excess of 5GB with their current service provider. We have included this line item no 12 in the pricing table for both the base plus four option years in case our monthly usage go beyond 5GB in future and we have the pricing in hand to accommodate this requirement.

12. Please confirm whether we should calculate the total bill with GST and WH tax or the US

Embassy has the exemption certificate for the WH Tax from Govt. of Pakistan.

Tax exemption is case by case basis. You should submit your prices inclusive of all applicable taxes.

13. 90% local network coverage is the 90% of Pakistan or the relative term (i.e. 90% of the existing coverage are by all operators?)

We expect the operator to cover 90% of total Pakistan and all the major cities of Pakistan should be covered cent percent.

14. In 1.9, what if the service provider does not have the Edge sticks available; will this disqualify the operator from the RFP?

No, this will not disqualify the offeror.

15. In 1.14, on reaching 50% of the credit limit COR should be informed; as we don’t have the existing mechanism for the same and we need to check the percentage manually to inform the COR; how important is this point.

It is required per clause 1.14 of the Performance Work Statement under Schedule of Services- Block-20 on page 18 of the solicitation.

16. In 2, Bank account information and contract number cannot be printed on each invoice does a single letter head stating both can fulfill the requirement?

If your system does not allow you to print this information on the monthly invoices, you can submit this to our finance office every month on your letter head with invoices.

17. In 8 Disclosure of information, PTA/agencies may request us for the data of the numbers issued through government regulatory;

Disclosure of Embassy information about this solicitation and/or contract should be made to authorized personnel only. We do not expect the offerors to disclose any information to third party without prior approval of the Embassy.

18. As per 11, We should not deliver any of the requested service/number unless we receive a written delivery order?

As noted in clause 52.216-18 “Ordering Act” on page 29 of the solicitation , you should not start the activation and billing of any number unless you receive a written order and/or oral order followed by a written order.

19. In 15 Credit Limits, we usually send text of the used credit limit when the number touches 84% of the usage; would that be sufficient?

As noted in 1.14 of the Performance Work Statement under Schedule of Services-Block-20 on page 18 of the solicitation the text should be sent when the total bill reaches 50% of the credit limit.

20. 52.216-18: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are not applicable to us.

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

Any offeror who do not conform to any of the clauses applicable to this contract are liable to be disqualified.

21. 52.216-19: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

22. 52.216-21: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

disqualified.

23. 52.216-22: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

disqualified.

24. 52.217-8: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

25. 52.217-9: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

26. 52.232-19: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

27. 652.232.70: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US are not applicable to us.

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

28. 652.216-70: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

29. 652.242.70: This clause is commercial in nature. The Federal Acquisition Regulations of the US

All the clauses included in this solicitation are applicable to this contract in their full entirety.

30. For the provision of telecommunication services in Pakistan, the Rules, Laws and Regulations stipulated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority shall apply to all service contracts. The laws stated from clause 52.212-5 till 652.229-10 are not applicable within the jurisdiction of Pakistan

The offerors are required to conform to all applicable clauses of this contract. Any offeror who does not comply to or agree to any of the clause will be liable to disqualification.

31.

Section Clause Paragraph Page of RFP Comment

Section 1- The Schedule Prices Block 23

Scope of Contract 2 3 See below

Provision of activated additional SIMS and temporary additional services on 24 hours’ notice- every telecom operator is under an obligation to follow certain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) which provide activation procedures and their timeframe.

Services shall remain subject to SOPs of PTA and RFP cannot require bidders to agree otherwise.

Nowadays the new SIMS with connections being sold at service providers customer service centers are pre-activated, if not pre-activated the SIMS get activated in an hour. We are giving maximum of 24 hours to activate a new SIM card upon request.

32.

Section 1- The Schedule Prices Block 23

III- A- Pricing Last paragraph on Value Added Tax

5 See below

Each party must remain responsible for its share of taxes for provision or utilization of the Services, as per the laws of Pakistan. Also the meaning of the term “CLIN” used in this paragraph is not provided therefore it is difficult to comment on that.

All the offerors are required to submit the rates inclusive of all applicable GOP taxes.

CLIN means “Contract Line Item Number”. Each line item mentioned in the pricing table is a CLIN.

33.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 20

7 See below

General Comment: Services and the standards of services listed under this schedule can only be provided in accordance with the laws of Pakistan, the license of telecom operator and the directions of regulatory authorities including PTA.

As noted in Block 20 all required services are being provided by the operators in Pakistan. So there is no exception to this.

34.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 20

1. Performance of

Work Statement

1 7 to 13 See below

The specific services listed in this paragraph are subject to the relevant SOPs of PTA governing these specific services and also subject to technical requirements. For example call waiting, conference call, missed call alerts services cannot be provided during international roaming. The service provider cannot be asked to provide services which are technically not possible.

We understand and are not asking such services which cannot be provided. All these services can be provided in Pakistan.

35.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 20

1. Performance of

Work Statement

2 7 See below

Quality requirements for services provided under this paragraph must be in accordance with the license and standards laid down by PTA only.

Provision of quality service is integral for every telecom operator in today’s competitive environment. We need good quality service from the awardee and the offerors will also be assessed on the quality of service they provide.

36.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 20

1.1 Calls within

Pakistan

Coverage obligations only as per the license of the service provider.

We believe the license does not restrict the services to be delivered to any specific areas. License is issued for entire Pakistan. Offerors will also be assessed on their network coverage.

37.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 20

1.2 International

Calls

Bidder cannot ensure international connectivity as per the standard required in this paragraph. These calls are handed over to other operators including Long Distance International (LDI) operators for termination to other States over which bidders has less control.

It is the responsibility of the operator to provide quality service to the Government. We have requested to offerors in the solicitation to share the list of their international partners which will be used during the technical evaluation of offers.

38.

Section 1- Schedule of

1.13 Detailed Billing 9 See below

Clause 4 of the Pricing Schedule requires bidders to provide costs of SIM, it is not clear why this paragraph requires SIMs to be provided free of charge.

Normally Corporate customers are offered free SIM cards from the operators. If the offerors charge the cost of SIM cards, mention the cost in the appropriate pricing line of the pricing table. But if it is to be provided free of cost, mention that in the pricing table.

39.

Section 1- Schedule of

7. Non Official Lines 11 See below

This is the internal policy of the Embassy regarding the use of the SIMs, it does not concern the bidder and should not be part of the RFP. In any case corporate connections will be issued only as per PTA SOPs which require use by employees only.

All the connections requested by the Embassy authorized personnel from the awardee will be considered official connections. All official connections will be placed through an official order issued by the Contracting Officer. Any connection issued by the awardee to any Embassy personnel without any official order will be considered as unofficial and Embassy will not be responsible for billing of that connection.

40.

Section 1- Schedule of Services, Block 23

8. Disclosure of Information

11 See below

Disclosure is subject to the law and legal system of Pakistan. Bidders cannot agree anything which restricts it from complying with the law.

We had not and will never require any of our potential offerors and the awardee to indulge themselves in any illegal act because of us. This clause means unnecessary disclosure to any third party for which the information is not meant for.

41.

Section 1- Schedule of

Services, Block 23

14. Survivability and recovery

13 See below

The network is sometimes required to be shut down due to law i.e. security situations. bidders cannot agree to such broad commitments. Services to be provided as per the law and license of telecom operator.

We understand and agree to that due to the security situation in Pakistan. But unnecessary shut downs and/or breakage without host Government intervention is what we meant.

42.

Section 2- Contract Clauses

14 See below

General Comment: It must be noted that FAR, DOSAR and Executive Orders which are inconsistent with the laws of Pakistan or contradict the requirements of the laws of Pakistan cannot be required to be followed by bidders for the provision of the services under the RFP.

All the FAR, DOSAR clauses applicable to this contract are binding on both the parties and needs to be followed. Unacceptance of any of the clauses and/or regulations will lead to disqualification.