Notice intent to sole source - 00381

The Department of Commerce's Office of Acquisition Management has issued a Notice of Intent to Sole Source for VIAVI TM500 Open RAN End to End Test Support services. The procurement, designated as solicitation number NTIA0000-25-00381, will be awarded to Viavi Solutions Inc. in Germantown, Maryland, under FAR 13.106-1 due to the proprietary nature of the TM500 system and lack of authorized third-party providers. The contract supports the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), which provides research and development support for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in radio science research. The solicitation falls under NAICS Code 334515 for instrument manufacturing and PSC Code J066 for maintenance and repair of laboratory equipment. Despite the sole source intent, the government is allowing other responsible sources to submit capability statements before making a final determination.

The procurement seeks TM500 Engineering services to support CRAIN Lab integration, testing, and research of 5G cellular and Open RAN technologies, with specific focus on O-RAN Alliance Open Fronthaul and End to End Conformance/Certification Testing. The contract includes professional services providing up to 8 technical support hours per day, on-site consulting for up to 1 month, and remote consulting for 2 months, with services delivered to NTIA's Boulder, Colorado location. The performance period runs from September 1, 2025, to August 31, 2026, and includes four on-site visits of one week each distributed throughout six months. Interested vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and submit capability statements via email to Ecrawford@doc.gov by 12:00 PM ET on September 4, 2025. The government retains full discretion on whether to compete the contract and will only notify quote providers of any amendments or changes after the submission deadline.