KCNA - Wholesale Services Re-Bid

The Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA) is re-bidding wholesale services for the KentuckyWired network, a state-owned 3,400-mile open-access middle-mile fiber optic network connecting all 120 Kentucky counties. The selected vendor will be responsible for marketing and leasing dark fiber and lit fiber services to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other broadband entities on a non-discriminatory, open-access basis, with emphasis on dark fiber leasing; the vendor will not provide last-mile retail services. The procurement requires vendors to submit three proposal components: a technical proposal evaluated on 1,700 points across six criteria (Executive Summary, Company Background, Technical Approach, Implementation Plan, Timeline for Milestones/Deliverables, and Project Management Plan), a cost proposal worth a maximum of 1,000 points based on proposed revenue generation, and proprietary information documentation. The cost proposal must include revenue share percentages for both Dark Fiber Services and Lit Fiber Services stated as percentages of gross revenue across a ten-year initial contract term. Proposals scoring below 50 percent of maximum technical points will be deemed non-responsive and excluded from cost evaluation. The RFP was released on March 4, 2026, with written questions accepted in two rounds (first deadline March 16, 2026; second deadline April 6, 2026), and proposals are due by April 24, 2026 at 3:30 PM ET; the Commonwealth reserves the right to conduct oral presentations and demonstrations with the top three vendors worth up to 500 additional points and to request best and final offers.

The solicitation permits vendors claiming resident bidder status or qualified bidder status to complete corresponding affidavits, though no mandatory set-asides are specified for disadvantaged enterprises. Vendors must comply with Kentucky campaign finance laws, maintain Commercial General Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and ensure the Commonwealth is listed as an additional insured. The selected vendor will assume full responsibility for construction and maintenance of any fiber infrastructure or equipment it installs and must comply with the Service Level Agreements outlined in Attachment I, which establishes performance metrics including 99.0–99.9 percent availability requirements, mean time to respond standards ranging from 4–12 hours depending on service level, and financial penalties for performance failures that escalate progressively over five monthly periods. The initial contract term is ten years from the effective date of award, with two optional five-year renewal periods available upon mutual agreement; price adjustments are prohibited during the first twelve months and thereafter require written justification based on industry-wide changes and thirty days' notice. This is a re-solicitation following a previous RFP (758 2600000154) that closed on December 17, 2025 without award, indicating prior procurement activity in this service category. No specific budget or award value is disclosed in the solicitation documents; rather, the evaluation is structured around vendor-proposed revenue share percentages for KCNA.