Fiber Optic Materials Procurement

Burke County, Georgia Board of Commissioners is soliciting sealed bids for fiber optic materials to support the county's participation in the federal Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) program. The procurement encompasses fiber optic cable in eleven line items ranging from 24-fiber to 432-fiber configurations in both loose tube and ribbon armored formats, totaling approximately 4.8 million feet of single-mode G.652.D specification cable, along with handholes in five size categories totaling 4,332 units across both 15,000-pound and 20,000-pound load ratings. All materials must comply with Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements and NTIA standards, with specific federal domestic content waivers available for fiber optic components. Sealed bids must be received by 2:00 PM on May 6, 2026, submitted as one electronic PDF and one sealed hardcopy to the Burke County Manager's Office in Waynesboro, Georgia, with written questions required by close of business on May 1, 2026. The successful bidder will be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder meeting all technical and compliance specifications, with pricing required to be firm and fixed for all three delivery phases (January 2027, July 2027, and January 2028), include freight costs on an FOB Waynesboro basis, and remain valid for ninety days following submission. Vendors must provide comprehensive documentation including manufacturer BABA certification letters, product datasheets with country and city of manufacture, mechanical specifications, lead times, minimum five-year warranty statements, NTIA waivers or de minimis calculations, and proof of insurance with minimum liability limits of $2 million comprehensive general liability and $3 million excess umbrella liability.

The procurement carries no specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises mentioned in the available documentation. All vendors must submit mandatory certifications including suspension and debarment certification per 2 CFR Part 180, E-Verify affidavits, anti-lobbying certification, and vendor addendum forms acknowledging all published addenda. Bidders must complete the Burke County FTTP Bidder Pricing Sheet in Excel format with unit pricing for each line item, manufacturing location, lead time, and separate shipping costs, with the spreadsheet automatically calculating extended prices and totals through embedded formulas. No incumbent vendors or existing infrastructure integration requirements are identified in the solicitation documentation. Burke County reserves the right to award in whole or in part and reserves the right to reject any or all bids; the total procurement value is not specified in the available documents but can be estimated based on the substantial quantities of materials requested across the multi-year phased delivery schedule.