PRE-SOLICITATION for IFB STP-SW-SCS-26 Structured Cabling Materials and Services

The State of California Department of Technology is conducting a pre-solicitation for Invitation for Bid (IFB) STP-SW-SCS-26 to procure structured cabling materials and services for use by state departments, federal agencies, cities, counties, special districts, educational agencies, tribal entities, and other eligible local government entities. The solicitation is organized into two distinct groups: Group 1 (Inside Plant Cabling) and Group 2 (Outside Plant Cabling), with bidders required to submit responses for a minimum of one group and permitted to bid on both. Qualified contractors must demonstrate a mandatory three years of structured cabling services experience performed within the five years preceding bid submission, with at least two of those three years specifically serving the State of California or federal, city, or county government entities. The procurement requires submission of detailed project qualifications (three to five projects minimum), pricing via the State's standardized Price Catalog in Microsoft Excel format with unit pricing for all line items, and quarterly usage reports documenting all invoiced orders across participating agencies. Pricing must be submitted on a firm fixed-price basis for the four-year base contract term, with annual rate adjustments permitted beginning in year two based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) with California Department of Technology approval, and sales tax excluded from submissions. The pre-solicitation timeline includes written feedback submission by February 19, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., confidential discussions March 3-5, 2026, official solicitation release on March 12, 2026, question submission deadline of April 1, 2026, Intent to Bid deadline of April 16, 2026, and final bid submission deadline of April 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, with evaluation occurring April 27 through May 8, 2026, and estimated contract execution in June 2026.

The solicitation does not identify any specific set-aside designations or restrictions limiting organizational type participation, and no incumbent vendor information or current contractor details are disclosed in the pre-solicitation materials. The State retains the option to exercise up to three two-year extensions beyond the base four-year term, establishing a potential maximum contract period of ten years, and multiple contractors may be awarded resulting from this solicitation. All equipment must be in current production, with used, refurbished, or discontinued models explicitly prohibited, and contractors must comply with California prevailing wage requirements for public works projects exceeding $25,000 in labor costs. The contract incorporates a 1.31 percent administrative fee collected quarterly from sales, deducted directly by the State and not charged to ordering agencies. No specific budgetary ranges or guaranteed minimum or maximum purchase values are disclosed in the solicitation materials, though the contract structure enables competitive pricing mechanisms and efficient ordering procedures for statewide and local agency procurement. Bidders must obtain an approved California Department of Technology Office of Statewide Technology Procurement (OSTP) eVAQ pre-qualification before bid submission and demonstrate financial responsibility and ability to perform the contracted services, with all contracts subject to the State's General Provisions for Telecommunications, including comprehensive data protection requirements aligned with NIST SP 800-53 MODERATE standards and mandatory compliance with applicable federal and state laws.