2026 470 Application - Charter Schools Associates - IA and SD-WAN solution and virtual firewall service

Category 1: Charter School Associates consortium consists of single schools, small districts consisting of two or three schools located at the same address, a Non-Instructional Facility (NIF) for the consortium's corporate office and a Non-Instructional Facility (NIF) for their Co-location Center/Virtual Data Center (VDC). Please see the attached document for the list of locations and their approximate current products/services.
INTERNET AND SD-WAN SOLUTION OR EQUIVALENT
The Charter School Associates consortium would like quotes for internet and an SD-WAN solution or equivalent. They would like quotes to provide internet to each of the sites (except for their Virtual Data Center) and to interconnect all sites listed to their Virtual Data Center (VDC) located at 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191 via an SD-WAN solution or equivalent. Please provide quotes for 1 connection to each site, ranging in speed from 200Mbps to 1+Gbps or equivalent. Charter School Associates consortium would prefer that the quotes include the rental of any Customer Premise equipment (preferably 1 Velocloud Edge840 -1G or equivalent per site). They would prefer that this be a managed/co-managed solution. Please provide quotes for month-to-month, 1 year, and 36-month agreements in addition to whatever other options you can offer.
PRIVATE VIRTUAL DATA CENTER (PVDC) INTEGRATION/VIRTUAL FIREWALL/Managed IPSec Tunnel
The Charter School Associates consortium would like quotes for a virtual firewall service or equivalent (preferably Secure Remote Access - PaloAlto Virtual Firewall VM-100 or equivalent and managed IPSec Tunnel or equivalent). The SD-WAN solution should provide a seamless connection to a private virtual data center (pVDC) infrastructure. This connection should not require any additional hardware or equipment at the pVDC level, and the integration should be entirely handled within the SD-WAN framework to reduce complexity and additional costs. The proposed solution must include advanced security features such as encryption, firewall capabilities, and secure tunneling to protect data in transit across all site locations and to the pVDC infrastructure.
Please include any installation/configuration and/or special construction/build-out costs as well as quotes for any network components that are necessary to deliver your service that will be billed separately.
As per E-Rate rules, all equivalent solutions will be accepted and evaluated.
Please note that the SD-WAN devices/service and Private Virtual Data Center (PVDC) Integration have been included under both Category 1 and Category 2. They would like quotes both as a Category 1 product/service and as a Category 2 product or service. They would like to evaluate all options and then they plan to choose what they will move forward with. Please provide quotes for whatever options you can offer. They have also listed them under both categories of service to account for where USAC classifies the options they choose.
Vendors - Please include your SPIN and the 470 number with your proposal. Please be advised that the numbers above are approximate. Please list all assumptions used in creating your proposals. The preferred mode of contact is email. The applicant takes no responsibility for phone inquiries. Please email all bid responses to this 470 Application to both the applicant contact person listed under Contact Information on the 470 Application and the consultant (kristin@erateadvantage.com). If a separate proposal is not received from the incumbent service provider, bills from the incumbent service providers may be considered bids for this E-Rate year. All proposals must comply with FCC LCP rules as well as state and local laws. By submitting a bid on the requested services herein, the vendor certifies that its proposed prices are consistent with the FCCs Lowest Corresponding Price (LCP) requirements and that its equipment and services are compliant with the FCCs Security Rules Order (FCC 19-121) prohibiting the sale, provision, maintenance, modification, or other support of equipment or services provided or manufactured by Huawei, ZTE Corporation, or any other covered company deemed a national security threat.
Category 2: Charter School Associates consortium consists of single schools, small districts consisting of two or three schools located at the same address, Non-Instructional Facility (NIF) for the consortium's corporate office and a Non-Instructional Facility (NIF) for their Co-location Center/Virtual Data Center (VDC). Please see the attached document for the list of locations and their approximate current products/services.
SD-WAN OR EQUIVALENT
The Charter School Associates consortium would like quotes for 17 SD-WAN appliances or equivalent (preferably 1 Velocloud Edge840 -1G or equivalent) for each of the sites listed. They would prefer not to purchase/own the SD-WAN appliances or equivalent. They would like to rent this customer premise equipment. They would prefer to enter into a managed services agreement or equivalent. Please provide quotes for month-to-month, 1 year, and 36-month managed services agreements or equivalent in addition to whatever other options you can offer.
PRIVATE VIRTUAL DATA CENTER (PVDC) INTEGRATION/VIRTUAL FIREWALL/Managed IPSec Tunnel
The Charter School Associates consortium would like quotes for a virtual firewall service or equivalent (preferably Secure Remote Access - PaloAlto Virtual Firewall VM-100 or equivalent and managed IPSec Tunnel or equivalent). The SD-WAN solution should provide a seamless connection to a private virtual data center (pVDC) infrastructure. This connection should not require any additional hardware or equipment at the pVDC level, and the integration should be entirely handled within the SD-WAN framework to reduce complexity and additional costs. The proposed solution must include advanced security features such as encryption, firewall capabilities, and secure tunneling to protect data in transit across all site locations and to the pVDC infrastructure.
As per E-Rate rules, all equivalent solutions will be accepted and evaluated.
If applicable, please provide the SKUs or manufacturer part numbers for the products/services listed in your quote.
Please note that the SD-WAN devices/service and Private Virtual Data Center (PVDC) Integration have been included under both Category 1 and Category 2. They would like quotes both as a Category 1 product/service and as a Category 2 product or service. They would like to evaluate all options and then they plan to choose what they will move forward with. Please provide quotes for whatever options you can offer. They have also listed them under both categories of service to account for where USAC classifies the options they choose.
Vendors - Please include your SPIN and the 470 number with your proposal. Please be advised that the numbers above are approximate. Please list all assumptions used in creating your proposals. The preferred mode of contact is email. The applicant takes no responsibility for phone inquiries. Please email all bid responses to this 470 Application to both the applicant contact person listed under Contact Information on the 470 Application and the consultant (kristin@erateadvantage.com). If a separate proposal is not received from the incumbent service provider, bills from the incumbent service providers may be considered bids for this E-Rate year. All proposals must comply with FCC LCP rules as well as state and local laws. By submitting a bid on the requested services herein, the vendor certifies that its proposed prices are consistent with the FCCs Lowest Corresponding Price (LCP) requirements and that its equipment and services are compliant with the FCCs Security Rules Order (FCC 19-121) prohibiting the sale, provision, maintenance, modification, or other support of equipment or services provided or manufactured by Huawei, ZTE Corporation, or any other covered company deemed a national security threat.
Requested services (12 line items): - Category 2 — Managed Internal Broadband Services — Leased Equipment - Category 2 — Internal Connections — Routers And Necessary Software And Licenses - Category 1 — Data Transmission And/Or Internet Access — Internet Access And Data Transmission Service - Category 2 — Internal Connections — Antennas, Connectors, And Related Components - Category 1 — Data Transmission And/Or Internet Access — Standalone Data Transmission Service - Category 2 — Internal Connections — Firewall Service, Components, And Necessary Software And Licenses
Reference documents (Form 470 / RFP): https://publicdata.usac.org/EPC/Prd/Form470/260007339/17020058/20730357-USAC_FCC_FORM_470_APPLICATION_260007339_CERTIFIED.pdf, https://publicdata.usac.org/EPC/Prd/Form470/260007339/17020058/20730347-CSA%20Network%20Diagram%20Addendum%20for%20470%20260007339.docx, https://publicdata.usac.org/EPC/Prd/Form470/260007339/17020058/20668388-2026%20Charter%20School%20Associates%20consortium%20locations%20and%20current%20services.pdf