Network Connectivity Fiber Network Backbone

The Department of the Interior's Interior Business Center, procuring on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, seeks a U.S.-based managed optical network provider to design, deploy, and operate a dedicated fiber network backbone connecting five NCI locations in Maryland and two cloud interconnect sites in Northern Virginia, with quotes due September 14, 2026 (extended by Amendment 4) and questions due August 28, 2026.

This is an unrestricted procurement under NAICS 517111 (Wired Telecommunications Carriers) with a 1,500-employee size standard. The PSC code is DG10 (IT and Telecom – Network as a Service). Large businesses must submit a small business subcontracting plan addressing HHS FY26 goals of 25% overall, 5% small disadvantaged business, 5% women-owned small business, 5% service-disabled veteran-owned small business, and 3% HubZone.

Performance spans a one-year base period plus four one-year options. The contract covers fiber plant provisioning, equipment acquisition, configuration, deployment, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance of backbone connectivity at Frederick (Fort Detrick at 430 Miller Drive and ATRF at 8560 Progress Drive), Rockville/Shady Grove (9609 Medical Center Drive), Bethesda (Buildings 10 and 12A at Center Drive), and two Northern Virginia sites for AWS Direct Connect with future Google Cloud Platform Interconnect capability. The contractor must maintain two redundant 100 Gbps logical connections between Fort Detrick and Bethesda, two 10 Gbps links from Rockville/Shady Grove to Northern Virginia, two 10 Gbps links from Frederick/ATRF to Northern Virginia, and planned 40–100 Gbps upgrade path from Rockville to Bethesda. All services, personnel, Network Operations Center, Security Operations Center functions, and data handling must be U.S.-based; the Government furnishes rack space, power, cooling, intra-building cross-connects, and campus fiber at four locations, while the contractor bears costs for Northern Virginia facilities and inter-site dark fiber.

Service requirements include 99.99% monthly availability (excluding Government-caused outages and force majeure), 24/7/365 network operations with 15-minute Priority 1 incident response and post-incident reporting within 2 business days, end-to-end encryption using FIPS 140-3 validated modules, and FedRamp certification or NIST moderate baseline security authorization. The incumbent is Leidos FFRDC. Network cutover must be completed by January 31, 2027.

Evaluation uses a best-value tradeoff approach: Technical Capabilities, Understanding of the Work, and Management Approach (most important); Past Performance (important); and Price (important). Offerors must submit a 10-page technical volume, a 2-page past performance volume covering three relevant projects within the last three years, a firm-fixed-price Excel quote with detailed cost breakdowns identifying one-time and recurring charges by period, a small business subcontracting plan (large businesses only, up to 3 pages), and a completed Section 508 Voluntary Product Accessibility Template.

Contact: Contracting Officer Melissa Onyszko, 703-964-3638, Melissa_Onyszko@ibc.doi.gov, Interior Business Center, AQD Division 2/Branch 2, 381 Elden Street, Suite 2000A, Herndon, Virginia 20170. Solicitation number is 140D0426Q0575.