CAT2 Equipment and Basic Maintenance (E-rate

ATTENTION VENDORS - DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO FULLY REVIEW AND COMPLETE THIS SOLICITATION. Applicant: Wichita Falls Independent School District   BEN: 140959
Form 470 #: 250005981 Attachment Name: C2 Equipment Service Specifications   Communications and Questions All communication with the Applicant regarding this solicitation must be submitted electronically via
IONWAVE (www.wfisd.ionwave.net)) by 12:00 PM CST on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. Verbal inquiries are not allowed. Clarifications, when applicable, will be posted as an attachment/addendum to the Form 470. Each Offeror is responsible for downloading the current version of the Form 470 and attachments, including any addenda. Applicant reserves the right to ask vendors clarifying questions during the proposal review process.
Contact initiated by an Offeror concerning this solicitation with any other Applicant representative other than those listed as Form 470 contacts is prohibited. Unauthorized contact may result in the offeror's disqualification from this solicitation. Product demonstration meetings will not be granted during the competitive bidding period – requests for such will be ignored. Site Visit For this solicitation, a site visit is not offered.  

Proposal Instructions Proposals must be submitted by the Proposal Submission Deadline in the Procurement Timeline.
Proposals must be submitted by the deadline for guaranteed inclusion in the evaluation. Proposals will be submitted electronically via IONWAVE (www.w?sd.ionwave.net) by 12:00 PM CT on Friday, January 17, 2025.
Proposals should include the following: • Applicant name • Form 470 number • SPIN (Service Provider Identification Number) • Service provider’s terms and conditions • Completed Pricing Attachment
Proposals must include all costs associated with providing the requested products/services to the applicant including but not limited to shipping fees, licenses, and any component needed for the proposed equipment to function properly.
Proposal pricing must be included in the “2025 Wichita Falls Pricing Attachment C2” and be submitted in xls or xlsx format.
Proposed service fees for each piece of equipment should: • be shown as unit pricing with separate line item charges for each SKU, • identify the percentage of each SKU that is eligible for E-rate support as agreed upon by USAC and the manufacturer; and • be categorized as Internal Connections (IC), Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections (BMIC), and/or Managed Internal Broadband Services (MIBS).
Proposals must be in response to the specific requirements of this solicitation. Offers including a generic listing of services beyond the scope of this solicitation and/or encyclopedic price lists will be disqualified. SPAM and/or robotic responses will not be considered valid responses and will be disqualified from consideration.  
  Equipment/Service Request The applicant requests proposals for new E-rate eligible Category Two equipment and related services. Proposals featuring equipment that is used, open box, refurbished, or categorized in any way other than new will be disqualified.
For this solicitation, vendor installation services are NOT requested.
Proposals are requested for the makes/models specified in the Pricing Attachment (or equivalent). Offers containing alternative makes/models are required to submit product specifications and documentation to establish that the equipment is equivalent to the requested solution. The applicant will be the arbiter of whether the proposed solution is functionally and technically equivalent to the requested solution.
The quantities requested are the applicant’s best estimate and may be adjusted based on the Offeror’s recommendations. The applicant reserves the right to increase or reduce quantities and buy some, all, or none of the listed equipment.
Partial bids will be considered.   Installation Location Information - see attached Service Specification outlining DMARC and campuses Locations are subject to change during the awarded contract period. 
Installation may occur at any E-rate eligible site based on the Applicant’s need at the time of purchase and install.
Contract Term and Modifications The applicant prefers a multi-year agreement (term dates April 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027) - OR - An initial award term of April 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026, with one optional renewal to align with an extended E-rate service delivery deadline, if needed, is also acceptable.
The quoted pricing must not assume the applicant will purchase the full quantities listed in the proposal.
The applicant reserves the right to place orders as needed and is not obligated to order all products or services.
Substitutions for alternative equipment must be agreed upon in writing by both parties before finalization of any changes/deviations from the original agreed-upon equipment list.
Offerors proposing equipment whose prices may increase depending upon new U.S. government tariffs imposed on imports are encouraged to (a) identify such products in their offers, and (b) propose an acceptable methodology for limiting price adjustments over the contract term.  
E-rate Specific Considerations/Information FCC rules require vendors to offer discounted SPI billing. The applicant requires SPI discount method for these services. Vendors that do not offer SPI billing will be disqualified.
Licensing for new equipment may have Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections or Managed Internal Broadband Services components, which is why BMIC & MIBS have been selected on the Form 470. This solicitation is not requesting BMIC or MIBS beyond any related manufacturer licenses and/or extended service subscriptions for the equipment requested.
Per USAC E-rate rules, “cost of eligible services” will be the highest valued criterion in the evaluation process; however, other criteria with a lesser value may also be considered.
Service providers proposing to temporarily loan equipment for product demonstration and/or evaluation purposes are required to clearly state that such loans are of limited duration. Product demos extending beyond thirty (30) days must be explicitly authorized by both parties and provided at a fair market rate.
By submitting a proposal on the requested services herein, the vendor certifies its proposed services and/or products comply with Part 47 Section 54.9 and 54.10 of the FCC rules which prohibits the sale, provision, maintenance, modification, or other support of equipment or services provided or manufactured by Huawei, ZTE, or any other covered company posing a national security threat to the integrity of communications networks or the communications supply chain. See h ttps://www.usac.org/about/reports-orders/supply-chain/ for more details.
As required by Section 54.500(f) of Part 47 of the Code of Federal Regulation all bids in response to this RFP must offer the lowest corresponding price (LCP) which is defined as the lowest price that a service provider charges to nonresidential customers who are similarly situated to a particular E-rate applicant (school, library, or consortium) for similar services. See https://www.usac.org/e-rate/service-providers/step-2-responding-to-bids/lowest-corresponding-price/ for more details.  
Evaluation Criteria The criterium listed herein are to be utilized in the evaluation of offers to be considered. Individual criteria have been assigned a weight to reflect relative importance. Vendors are encouraged to provide details in their proposals that address the criteria outlined.   Bid Evaluation Factors Bidders should be aware that the evaluation of their proposals may be adversely affected by the following factors: Proposal does not fully meet Requirements. Proposal does not provide definitive costs for the services. Proposal does not guarantee service by the requested date. Applicant may, at its sole discretion, extend the due date for the submission of proposals when it is in its best interest to do so. Such extensions shall be done via addendum posted in EPC.