MET7-CY26 Metro Ethernet

The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) is soliciting competitive bids for Fiber-Based Point to Point Metro-Ethernet Transport Service through Invitation for Bid (IFB) MET7-CY26 (Contract No. 26-448DOIT-TELEC-B-51005). The procurement seeks metro ethernet transport services with bandwidth speeds between 100 MB and 1 GB to provide wide area network connectivity between various state agency locations throughout Illinois and Illinois Century Network Points of Presence sites. Service will be required at eleven primary sites across Illinois, including locations in Anna, Metropolis, Marion, Cairo, Olney, Pana, Mounds, Harrisburg, Sparta, Charleston, and Morton, with connection points at fifteen POP Z End Locations including the Central Computing Facility in Springfield, the Michael A Blandic Building in Chicago, and various university and regional facilities. The resulting services must maintain 99.98% or better availability based on a 30-day average, provide guaranteed synchronous bandwidth, and operate continuously 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Bidders must submit responses electronically through BidBuy by March 20, 2026, with all bids remaining firm for 180 days from opening. The State anticipates multiple awards, with each site evaluated separately and awarded to the vendor submitting the lowest responsive and responsible bid per location based on the formula: Total Cost = (Monthly Recurring Cost × Service Term) + Non-Recurring Installation Cost. Required submissions include Vendor Disclosure forms or IPG Active Registered Vendor Disclosure documentation, an Offer to the State of Illinois Information and Technology form, mandatory bandwidth pricing for all required and optional tiers including Monthly Recurring Costs and Non-Recurring Costs, and Business Enterprise Program/Veterans Small Business Program Utilization Plans as applicable.

The procurement is open to vendors that can qualify as Illinois businesses, which may claim a 4% bid preference if headquartered and operating in Illinois for at least one year prior to bid advertisement and subject to applicable state taxes. Current service providers at various sites include Clearwave, Delta/Clearwave, Frontier, Stratus, Wabash Telco, and New Initiative, indicating the State's intent to evaluate alternative vendors for service delivery. Vendors must maintain active registration in the Illinois Procurement Gateway or complete comprehensive Vendor Disclosure forms providing Standard Illinois Certifications, financial disclosures, and conflict-of-interest documentation; for-profit entities with contracts valued over $100,000 must disclose all current and pending contracts, bids, and procurement relationships with Illinois state government. Business Enterprise Program and Veterans Small Business Program subcontractors may be identified in utilization plans, though specific set-aside percentages are not mandated in this solicitation. The procurement document does not specify an overall budget range or total award value; however, the contract applies to procurements exceeding the small purchase maximum threshold and requires all-inclusive pricing with no additional taxes, fees, surcharges, or pass-through charges permitted after award. No bid or performance bonds are required, and if a bidder has entered into a contract with DoIT within the past twelve months for similar services, the negotiated terms and conditions from that prior contract shall apply without further negotiation.