Base Telecommunications Services, GFAFB, ND

The 319 Contracting Flight intends to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a competitive 100% set-aside to SBA certified 8(a) concerns on or about 11 Aug 2017 for the acquisition of Base Telecommunications System Services to be performed at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. The Government anticipates evaluation factors to be a subjective trade off between past performance and price with past performance being significantly more important than price. The Government intends to issue an award to a single SBA certified 8(a) concern under a firm fixed price contract on or about 21 Nov 2017. Services will be procured pursuant to the regulatory direction of FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items. The expected award shall consist of one base period of performance (12 months, 1 Jan 2018 through 31 Dec 2018) and may include up to four optional periods of performance (each 1 year in duration, and running consecutively from the expiration of the base period of performance). The NAICS code for this requirement is 517110, Wired Telecommunications Carrier. The Small Business Administration Size Standard is 1,500 employees. The successful contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, vehicles, supervision to support the mission of 319 Communications Squadron at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota by providing highly reliable wired telecommunications and networked voice, video and data services. The Contractor shall perform Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and other services required to ensure the Base Telecommunications System (BTS) is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The BTS consists of the base telephone system switch, the outside plant (OSP) and inside plant (ISP) systems, network, transmission systems, and all associated equipment, which may include other systems (e.g. radio, etc.). The Contractor shall operate and maintain all BTS equipment and systems in accordance with (IAW) the Original Equipment Manufacturers' (OEM) technical manuals and specifications, Department of Defense (DoD) and US Air Force (AF) policy and regulations, as well as all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The closing date and time for submission of offers shall be contained in the solicitation package. The entire solicitation package shall be made available only on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) Web Site at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/. Requests for copies of the solicitation package, or any cumulative parts thereof, by any other means shall not be honored. Potential offerors are responsible for monitoring the FedBizOpps website for the release of the solicitation package, which should be on or about 11 Aug 2017, for downloading their own copy of the solicitation package and for downloading their own copy of each associative amendment, if any. All firms wishing to submit a proposal subsequent to the solicitation described herein MUST be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database or risk their otherwise-timely proposal being considered non-responsive regardless of its completeness, timeliness or other salient considerations. Information on SAM registration can be obtained at the following web site: http://www.sam.gov. No response to this announcement is required. The Government will not pay for any information submitted in response to this announcement. The solicitation subsequent to this announcement may be cancelled. After solicitation and prior to award the possibility exists to reject all offers when cancellation is clearly in the public interest. This announcement does not obligate the Government to pay for any bid/proposal preparation costs. Per AFFARS 5352.201-9101 OMBUDSMAN (Jun 2016), the following applies: (a) an ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, Lt Col Aaron Judge, 129 Thompson St, Bldg 586, Rm 129, AFICA Langley OL/KC, tel 757-764-5372, email aaron.judge@us.af.mil. Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU/SMC ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431. (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer.