USCG_Sources_Sought_Annoucement -V7.pdf

RFI: 70Z079-20-RFI-2121791PT1098

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

70Z079-20-RFI-2121791PT1098

TITLE: V7 Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM)

Issuance Date: June 04, 2020

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regard to its submission; other than acknowledgment of receipt – IF a request for an acknowledgement is requested by the submitter. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is not at this time seeking proposals.

Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP.

The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on behalf of the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned.

1.0 DESCRIPTION

The United States Coast Guard, Telecommunication and Information Systems Command (TISCOM) located at 7323 Telegraph Rd, Alexandria VA, 22315, is considering plans for acquiring connectivity and support for existing KVH Industries, Inc. V7 commercial satellite communication (COMSATCOM) systems. The USCG currently supports worldwide operations conducted on land, sea, and airborne platforms.

2.0 PURPOSE OF THIS RFI

The USCG is seeking information for potential sources on available offerings and service structures for satellite communications compatible with existing V7 systems, corresponding hardware support, network and security support, and network backhaul provisioning to USCG Points of Presence. The anticipated period of performance is 5 years consisting of a 12 month base period beginning Q1 FY21 followed by four 12-month option periods for communication, support, and terrestrial network backhaul services.

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES:

The USCG supports worldwide operations for various platforms utilizing Ku-band COMSATCOM.

The USCG currently has an extensive Ku-Band architecture that supports cutter (watercraft), fixed land contingency circuits, and Deployable Contingency Communication System (DCCS) kits that use the Viasat Ku-Band Arclight satellite network. The USCG will need terrestrial network backhaul connectivity to each of the USCG’s enterprise Internet Protocol (IP) network – CGOne Points of Presence located at Alexandria, VA, Alameda, CA, and Martinsburg, WV. USCG cutters currently use Ku-band as their primary connectivity, with some utilizing L-band as backup connectivity. Fixed land contingency circuits utilize this Ku-band service as a backup in case of terrestrial network outage. DCCS kits utilize this Ku-band service as a primary means of connectivity when deployed globally.

The USCG is seeking information on the availability of service offerings listed below that meet the stated capabilities. The USCG is also interested in other pricing/service arrangements available to the USCG if capable of supporting USCG operations, as well as contract vehicles available to the USCG for procuring these services.

1. Commercial Satellite Services—The USCG requires Commercial Satellite, Ku-Band service (airtime) compatible with the USCG’s existing Ku-band, two (2) axis V7 antennas and associated below-decks hardware manufactured by KVH Industries, Inc. The USCG currently purchases service for this equipment as unlimited data/usage plans with fixed data rates per system ranging from 128 Kbps to 2 Mbps on the downlink and 128 Kbps to 512 kbps on the uplink. No “Fair Access Policy” is applied to the current airtime plans.

2. Voice Over Internet Protocol – The USCG requires two voice lines for every system providing international and domestic voice call capability via VOIP enabled phones.

3. Network Backhaul Services—The USCG requires network backhaul services between the Contractor’s teleport facilities and the USCG’s three (3) CGOne network Points of Presence located at:

a. USCG Telecommunications and Information Systems Command (TISCOM) 7323

Telegraph Road, Alexandria, Virginia, 20598.

b. USCG Operations System Center 408 Coast Guard Drive, Kearneysville, WV, 25430.

c. USCG Base Alameda Coast Guard Island, Alameda, CA, 94501.

This service should be capable of supporting approximately 117 total systems, with approximately 40% of those active at any given time. This service shall have an availability of 99.99%. For redundancy/availability purposes, each of the terrestrial backhaul circuits shall be capable of supporting all of the Coast Guard’s active terminals.

4. Support services – The USCG requires pro-active monitoring of performance and security of the entire COMSATCOM network, including each of the mobile terminals, satellite teleports, and terrestrial backhaul circuits. The USCG requires 24x7x365 technical support, including on-call telephone troubleshooting support for individual mobile units and for the service as a whole.

5. Online Portal - A portal accessible to the COR and USCG Technical Team via Hyper Text Transfer Protocol with Secure Sockets Layer (HTTPS) that must be accessible through a Virtual Private Network with Contractor provided user access management based on user hierarchy provided by the USCG. The portal must provide at a minimum: monthly reports, near real time usage reports by individual asset with the ability to run reports over a specified period of time, and near real time reports of system errors, faults, and outages. Account management and monitoring for assets that is searchable and able to provide near real time information to include: bandwidth plan assignment (uplink/downlink speed), online/offline status, restrictions, faults/errors, and IP assignment.

6. Hardware support – The USCG requires hardware troubleshooting support, to include replacement and repair options for the existing V7 installed systems and ability to purchase additional new hardware V7 systems.

7. Coverage area as described below:

a. The entire United States “Inland” coverage for the entire continental US, Alaska and

Hawaii, throughout all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

b. From the coast to the littoral waters out to 150 miles off the coasts of North, Central and South America as follows:

(1) The Atlantic coast of North America below 52ᵒ north latitude, including the coast of Newfoundland.

(2) The Pacific coasts of North America below 70ᵒ north latitude, including the coast of Alaska, Canada and the continental US as well as the Aleutian islands.

(3) The Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean coasts of South America and Central America, north of 5ᵒ north latitude as well as the entire Panama Canal.

(4) Atlantic and Pacific shipping routes.

(5) The entire Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, with a southern boundary of 5ᵒ north latitude.

(6) All of the Hawaiian Islands and the ocean area out to 150 NM offshore.

(7) All of Guam and the ocean area out to 150 NM offshore.

3.0 RFI RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

Responses to this announcement must provide detailed, concise information about the company's qualifications and experience, from the company’s specific current capabilities to past performance, with providing V7 KU-Band support services as identified under Section 2.0 “Required Capabilities,” including all subsections. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Electronic files larger than 5 MB shall be broken down into multiple files with no one file exceeding 5 MB. Each electronic submission shall include:

The RFI number in the subject line

The maximum number of pages per submission shall be limited to 10 pages. Times New Roman, 12 inch font and 1 inch margins.

The file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.) in the subject line, if submission includes more than one electronic email

A Point of Contact (POC), phone number and email address of the person (in the body of the email) to be contacted regarding any correspondence between the Government and the Vendor. The POC shall be capable of addressing questions or issues associated with the submission and content of the RFI

Business Size applicable to the NAICS code: 517410 A brief summary of email content, vendor name and the firm’s mailing address

Questions regarding this RFI may be forwarded to Michelle Wong via email at Michelle.Wong@uscg.mil, or by phone at (703) 313-5350. The deadline for submitting questions is 5:00 PM EST on June 11, 2020.

Interested parties having the expertise and capabilities are invited to submit detailed information discussing their capabilities to Michelle Wong, Contract Specialist, at the following email address, Michelle.Wong@uscg.mil by 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on June 18, 2020.

Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid DHS, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned. Responses to this RFI may be evaluated by Government technical experts drawn from staff within DHS and other Federal agencies. The Government may use selected support contractor personnel to assist in the evaluation. These support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary and source selection information. This action will be governed under DHS law enforcement sensitive guidelines.