BROADBAND EQUITY ACCESS/DEPLOYMENT PLAN

The State of South Carolina's Office of Regulatory Staff, on behalf of the South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO), is seeking a consultant to develop and implement a comprehensive Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) and Digital Equity Act (DEA) program for Richland County and statewide. The primary objective is to create a five-year strategic broadband plan that will be incorporated into the state's BEAD Initial Proposal for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The consultant must possess significant experience in regional broadband needs assessments, grant process optimization, and telecommunications infrastructure coordination. Key deliverables include developing a comprehensive broadband strategy, conducting statewide outreach to solicit input from various government entities, engaging with Internet Service Providers, providing technical assistance for IIJA BEAD and DEA grant applications, and offering FCC map challenge assistance. The procurement process involves a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued on August 23, 2022, with questions due by August 30, 2022, and proposals due September 13, 2022, at 11:00 AM. The state will evaluate proposals primarily based on the offeror's approach, with additional consideration given to qualifications and experience. Interviews for the most promising offerors are tentatively scheduled for September 26-27, 2022, with award notification set for October 7, 2022.

The solicitation requires all offerors to register with the South Carolina vendor registration system and possess a state vendor number. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises were explicitly mentioned in the documents. The estimated contract period runs from October 15, 2022, through July 15, 2023, with the state expecting to receive approximately $5 million in BEAD planning funds and $1.5 million in Digital Equity planning funds from the NTIA. While no specific contract value was identified, the procurement requires a fixed-fee, not-to-exceed pricing structure for eight outlined tasks. The state mandates that a single consultant must be capable of handling both BEAD and DEA work simultaneously, with no option to split the work between multiple contractors. The SCBBO will provide supporting materials, including grant documents, mapping analysis through www.scdigitaldrive.org, and internal planning documents for ARPA SLFRF and ARPA CPF deployments. The consultant will need to utilize tools such as Esri ArcGIS, Ookla Speedtest Intelligence, and existing ISP data reporting to ensure comprehensive broadband planning and compliance.