TAC-16-34690_Digital Television Services for High Definition Television Head End System Equipment and Subscription

Item Reference Question Answer

1 General The Dish on the roof will have to be replaced. The LNB for this new dish requires (4) Coax RG6 wires. There is currently (2) wires running from the existing Directv dish through conduit. Will 2 more wires fit through? The conduit from the roof into the chase is large enough for a total of (4) RG6 cables. Vendor does not have to install conduit from the chase to the new room.

2 General Who will be programming the existing TV's once the new headend is installed?? The solicitation does state that it does NOT include the set-up of individual televisions, but does set up mean "programming tv's" or will the installer need to program the televisions? VA BioMed and SCOPE department(s) will reset/program all the TV sets, based on the instructions provided from the contractor once the new headend is installed.

3 General What kind of cable is being run from the headends to the patient rooms? RG59, RG6, RG11 or Fiber? RG59 may have some issues with HD signal. A combination of RG6 for trunk lines and RG6/RG59 for feeds are presently run from headends to patient rooms. VA BioMed department is responsible for these cable lines and will accommodate contractor accordingly.

4 Specific Is VH1 Classics audio channel the only channel that can meet government need? Any classic station similar to VH1 Classics are suitable equivalents to meet Governmental need.

Item Reference Question Answer

1 General Is installer going to run new data lines to the new room that will contain the new headend device?

Is installer going to run a cable back to the old room or will all the trunk lines going to the new room? The Government will run data lines for VA computers. The installer will run all new HDTV lines including trunk lines into the new room. No cables will be run back to the old room. All trunk lines are going to the new room. Cable vendors may have to run new data and trunk lines to the new room as their HDTV installation/equipment requires. Satellite vendors will replace current trunk and data lines. The Contractor is not required to replace the lines for the VA Knowledge Network (VAKN) satellite dish which consists of two cables.

Item Reference Question Answer

1 General Does the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation under solicitation number VA11816Q1144 contain requirements similar to a current contract?

If possible, please provide the current contract number.

Or, is this a new requirement for the government?

The referenced Combined Synopsis/Solicitation is a new Government Requirement.

2 General Can you please clarify the meaning of this statement?

"This notice does not in itself represent the issuance of a formal request for proposal/quote and is not intended to be taken as such."

Please disregard this statement. This has been issued as a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6. Therefore, this announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested with this notice.

3 General Who is the existing incumbent or is this a new requirement? There is no incumbent. As indicated in the Product Description, existing services are analog, therefore, this is a new requirement.

4 General Would the Government be interested in setting aside to an 8A Small businesses or competing as sole source? No. As a result of market research conducted on GSA and FBO for this requirement, it was determined the solicitation be released on FBO as a small business set-aside to ensure adequate competition.

This is a combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Commercial services in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Proposal (RFP); the solicitation number is VA118-16-Q-1144 (see attached document: Synopsis_Solicitation__VA118-16-Q-1144_3)



Type of Contract: Firm Fixed Price



The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Acquisition Operations, Technology Acquisition Center, located at 23 Christopher Way, Eatontown, NJ, intends to issue a total small business set-aside solicitation for Digital Television Services for High Definition Television Head End System Equipment and Subscription. The Contractor shall acquire, setup, install, configure and maintain a High Definition Television (HDTV) Head End system, and provide subscription TV/Music programming for the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center located at 1481 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Attachment (A) is a diagram of the system location; room locations, distances and a picture of the current roof configuration. Table 1 defines the minimally required TV/Music programming. The facilities current television system is comprised of outdated analog technology. Replacement parts are not available for many components. This effort consists of replacing/moving the current analog system head end and not the replacement of the facility cable distribution system, nor the replacement/set up of individual digital televisions (though these may be used for testing). The Contractor shall install the HDTV equipment, provide one or more racks and all inter-connecting cables/power supply/interfaces, etc. The Contractor shall move, setup and demonstrate successful operation of existing VA locally generated programming (as described in table 1) GFE equipment as described in Attachment (B) and Attachment (C) in a VAMC provided rack (additional images of rack provided in Attachments D through G). The Contractor will replace any current HDTV monitoring equipment used in the locally generated programming rack. The VA will supply all monitors for computers used in local program generation IAW Attachment C. The Contractor shall completely replace the current DirecTV system. The Contractor shall configure the installed systems, customizing the configuration to meet operational as well facility specific system requirements as defined by and in coordination with the Contracting Officers Representative. The Contractor shall also provide HDTV television subscription services. For subscription purposes, the VAMC has a total of 290 HDTV drops as follows: Outpatient areas: 67 drops; Inpatient areas: 197 drops; Administrative areas: 26 drops. This notice does not in itself represent the issuance of a formal request for proposal/quote and is not intended to be taken as such.



The North American Industrial Classification (NAICS) for this effort is 515210.



This solicitation shall close on August 2, 2016 at 3:00pm EST. Questions shall be submitted to Tinamarie Giraud, Contract Specialist, at Tinamarie.Giraud@va.gov, and Contracting Officer, Kevin Monahan at Kevin.Monahan@va.gov, no later than 12:00pm EST on July 25, 2016 with the subject line as the synopsis number, VA118-16-R-1097. The Points of Contact (POCs) for this action are Tinamarie Giraud, Contract Specialist, 732-440-9641; Kevin Monahan, Contracting Officer, 732-440-9695.