Network and Telephone Services

The Chicago Housing Authority is requesting proposals for Wide Area Network (WAN), Internet, and telecommunications services under RFP Event No. 3340, with proposals due August 6, 2026 at 1:00 PM CT via the CHA Supplier Portal and a pre-proposal conference on July 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM CT. The Letter of Intent to Submit is due July 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM CT. CHA is subject to M/W/DBE participation goals of 20–30% depending on contract type, Section 3 business subcontracting requirements for contracts exceeding $250,000, and Section 3 labor hour requirements of 25% with 5% performed by targeted Section 3 workers.

The scope spans four service areas: WAN connectivity for 149 Scattered Sites properties (minimum 100 Mbps), WAN connectivity for 74 Administrative and Remote Sites (250 Mbps to 10 Gbps), SIP Trunking and teleconferencing with 800-number and POTS services, and business-class fiber optic Internet at CHA Headquarters and disaster recovery locations. The selected respondent must furnish design, hardware procurement, installation, configuration, maintenance support, and a service level agreement with escalation procedures. All on-premise routers, switches, and firewalls must be new Cisco-certified equipment; broadband and wireless equipment are exempt. The respondent must employ Project Management Professional (PMP) and Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) resources and provide comprehensive training and knowledge transfer to CHA IT staff.

The contract is firm fixed-price with an initial three-year term and two optional one-year extensions, anticipated to commence January 2027. Evaluation criteria are technical qualifications and past performance (35 points), approach and work plan (25 points), organization structure and key personnel (10 points), contract requirements compliance (10 points), proposed fees (20 points), and an additional 30-point oral presentation. Respondents must provide audited, reviewed, or compiled financial statements; current insurance certificates including commercial general liability ($1,000,000 per occurrence), professional liability ($1,000,000), and technology errors and omissions ($1,000,000 per occurrence).