STAGEnet Internet Access

The North Dakota Information Technology Department (ITD) is soliciting proposals for STAGEnet Internet Access, a comprehensive network infrastructure project serving Burleigh County and multiple state locations. The procurement seeks internet service providers to deliver approximately 60 gigabits/second of inbound bandwidth via 100 gigabit ethernet links from two independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Key technical requirements include physically diverse internet paths, border gateway protocol (BGP) support, direct or indirect access to Tier 1 ISPs, and connectivity to seven state facilities in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot. The RFP requires a solution with 100G Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports, co-location services for approximately seven full-size cabinets, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) prevention, and 24x7x365 Network Operations Center (NOC) support. Evaluation will use a 100-point scale, with 70 points for technical proposal (55 points for Information Technology Solution, 15 points for Offeror Background) and 30 points for cost proposal, with a minimum score of 46 points required for responsiveness. The solicitation was issued on October 1, 2025, with proposals due by November 7, 2025, at 11:00 am Central Time, and a potential contract start date around January 25, 2026.

The procurement is open to eligible telecommunications and internet access service providers, with the state participating in the e-Rate Program. The contract term appears to extend through June 30, 2027, with potential for transition and expansion of services, and possible renewal options of two 12-month and two 6-month extensions. While no specific set-aside designations were mentioned, vendors must meet comprehensive insurance requirements, including commercial general liability ($2,000,000 per occurrence), automobile liability, workers' compensation, and professional errors and omissions insurance ($1,000,000 per claim). The state plans to award contracts to a minimum of two offerors to ensure service availability, with the existing STAGEnet infrastructure currently featuring an 802.1x authenticated and guest Wi-Fi network, full layer 7 IDS/IPS capabilities, and zero trust methodology datacenter architecture. Although specific budget ranges were not explicitly stated, the cost proposal template suggests flexibility in service scaling, including options for bandwidth increments, sub-10G internet services, and various co-location service configurations across multiple state facilities. All data must be transmitted, processed, and stored within the continental United States, with strict prohibitions on remote data access from outside the country.