2026 Form 470 North Linn CSD Category 2 Firewall Upgrade

See RFP FOR EQUIVALENCIES, DISQULIFICATIONS AND PURCHASE INFORMATION North Linn Community School District, 3033 Lynk Drive, Troy Mills, IA 52344, will accept bid proposals from qualified vendors with E-Rate SPIN numbers for a firewall and license as described below:
All work pursuant to this contract shall be contingent upon approved E-Rate funding.
North Linn Community School District currently uses a FortiGate 601E firewall. We are seeking to upgrade to a FortiGate 201G or equivalent.
Successful bidders will issue a bid that contains the following information.
Required Information All bidders must include documentation in their bids of the following: SPIN Number Distance from North Linn Community School District, 3033 Lynx Drive, Troy Mills, IA 52344 to vendors home office in miles Bidders must be willing to provide E-Rate discounted billing (form 474/SPI invoicing) and to include this statement in the proposal.
Robo-bids and bids sent as SPAM without regard to products and services listed on the Form 470 and /or the RFP will be disqualified and will not be evaluated.
Bids should include: 1. Bids should itemize: a) cost of equipment b) cost of installation, if applicable c) cost of taxes/fees/shipping, if applicable. d) Bids should also include specific make and model of equipment, as well as the SKU of each piece of equipment. e) Bids should specify terms of the manufacturers warranty and what the license term is (if applicable). 2. Not all equipment is E-Rate eligible. Any E-Rate ineligible costs should be clearly identified and itemized on the bid. When bidding Firewall equipment or licenses vendors should consult with the product manufacturer for specifics regarding the portion of the product or license that is eligible. 3. If submitting a bid for equipment that is or equivalent to equipment listed on this form 470, the vendor shall submit evidence of equivalency. The applicant will make a final determination of equivalence and interoperability with existing equipment. 4. The make/model bid(s) should be for new equipment that is the most current model(s) available. 5. If the bid includes installation of new equipment, the bid should specify the installers city and state. 6. Bidders must be willing to provide E-Rate discounted billing (form 474/SPI invoicing) and to include this statement in the proposal. 7. The District reserves the right to cancel this request for bids and to reject all related proposals. 8. Prices need to be held firm through the duration of the 2026 E-Rate Category 2 installation period (from date of bid to September 30, 2027).
Price for the following equipment Itemized equipment and Necessary Licenses: Quantity (1) FortiGate 201G Firewall or equivalent* Quantity (1) FortiGate 201G UTM License and Support (5 YR)
Technical Contact All bidders may contact the technical contact (Gina Rogers - contact@example.gov) with any questions regarding the network infrastructure upgrade.
All questions for the technical contact must be submitted by February 18, 2026.
Submission Deadline Deadline for vendor proposals is 9:00 am Central time, 29 days after the date this Form 470 is posted. We reserve the right to reject late-submitted proposals. Proposals must be emailed to the school business manager, Kerry Peyton (contact@example.gov).
The District may Amend, modify, cancel this RFP or not award any contract. The district reserves the right to cancel this request for bids and to reject all related proposals. Increase or decrease the quantities of equipment at the same price listed in the successful contract; or entirely omit an item or group of items to be purchased to reflect actual District needs at the time that orders are placed. Such additional quantities will be purchased at the price indicated on the contract. Such modifications are expressly anticipated and included within the scope of this RFP. Purchase the most cost-effective proposal(s) and not necessarily the lowest-priced proposal(s) in accordance with E-Rate rules where price of E-rate eligible services is the factor given the most points in the evaluation among all of the various factors considered in the evaluation.
Purchase The purchase of equipment will be contingent upon E-rate approval and a Notice to Proceed or Purchase Order by the District after E-rate approval has been received.
Equipment Substitution If the model specified in the contract is discontinued by the manufacturer after the award of this contract, the only acceptable substitute will be the manufacturers standard replacement in a configuration that meets or exceeds the specifications and operating capabilities of the as specified unit. Further, the substituted equipment must be able to meet the FCCs Service Substitution Criteria. The Proposer must agree to cooperate with the District to provide the information necessary to obtain SLDs approval of a service substitution request.
Requested services (1 line item): - Category 2 — Internal Connections — Firewall Service, Components, And Necessary Software And Licenses
State/local procurement requirements: By submitting a bid on the requested services herein, the vendor certifies: its proposed prices are consistent with the FCCs Lowest Corresponding Price (LCP) requirements and that its equipment and services are compliant with the FCCs recent Order (FCC 19-121) prohibiting the sale, provision, maintenance, modification, or other support of equipment or services provided or manufactured by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hangzhou, Dahua, Pacific Network Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC and China Unicom (Americas) Operations Limited or any other covered company deemed a national security threat.
Reference documents (Form 470 / RFP): https://publicdata.usac.org/EPC/Prd/Form470/260017450/132529/21014777-USAC_FCC_FORM_470_APPLICATION_260017450_CERTIFIED.pdf, https://publicdata.usac.org/EPC/Prd/Form470/260017450/132529/21014407-2026%20North%20Linn%20Firewall%20RFP.pdf