Coast Guard Maritime Commercial Satellite Ka Band System and Service

Coast Guard Maritime Commercial Satellite Ka Band System and Service Request for Information Background: The Coast Guard currently has contracts in place for Ku-Band and L-band airtime for our large cutter fleet of approximately 25 - 30 cutters. The Ku-Band service provides a maximum throughput of approximately 2 Mbps to the ship and 1 Mbps off the ship. The L-band service is Inmarsat Fleet Broadband. Coast Guard cutters use a commercially-available Shared-Corporate Access Plan (SCAP) to provide up to 432 Kbps of bandwidth that is shared with other Coast Guard and non-Coast Guard Fleet Broadband users within a spot beam. Cutters currently use the Fleet Broadband system as a manually-engaged backup connection to overcome environmental or sustained blockage conditions. The Coast Guard plans to improve our underway cutter connectivity by: - Providing more throughput than installed Ku band systems deliver - Increasing the cutter connection reliability Scope: Coast Guard cutters require a near-global, broadband (4-25Mbps download, and up to 3Mbps upload) capable maritime connectivity system that can support existing and future missions. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain industry comments regarding systems that may be able to meet the Coast Guard's requirements including information about: - Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) or modified COTS shipboard equipment. - Available satellite airtime that the shipboard equipment can access, including descriptions of coverage, bandwidth, connection reliability, and the types of pricing plans (for example, annual lease per ship, per minute or per Mb charges, and/or - bulk' bandwidth that can be shared among all ships within a satellite footprint). - A description of the warranty & support available for such a system. System Physical Descriptions and Thresholds: The Coast Guard requires the new system have a large and small variant to allow installation on various Coast Guard cutter classes. Ideally, both variants should be available from the same manufacturer with commonalities/similarities with respect to configuration and setup. The satellite modem/transceiver will connect to a Coast Guard router via Ethernet. The system may not transmit Coast Guard data over the public Internet; the connection to the Coast Guard's intranet shall be through a Coast Guard Multi-Protocol Labeled Switching network at the vendor teleports or designated networking points. Teleports or networking points supporting the new system shall be robust with physically-diverse paths a plus. Large System Variant Antenna Requirements: The large variant antenna shall have an optimum weight of 300 Lbs. The antenna shall have a service hatch. The large variant must have a dual-antenna option or capability which does automatic hand off between the antennas without operator intervention. Small System Variant Antenna Requirements: The small variant antenna shall have an optimum weight of 100 lbs. For the small variant a dual-antenna capability is desired but not required. For both antennas (further described as Above Deck Equipment or ADE), lighter is preferred but reducing weight should not reduce the antenna survivability, ruggedness or capability. Both variants Below Deck Equipment (BDE) should take up no more than 3u of 19" standard equipment rack space. The Coast Guard plans to retain existing SailorPhone 500 Fleet Broadband systems currently installed on cutters as an available backup to the new system increase cutter connection reliability. Vendors may propose alternatives to increasing cutter connectivity reliability but must address reasoning to not use the existing Sailor Phone 500 Fleet Broadband systems. Preferred System Requirements: a) The ADE shall include 3-axis antenna stabilization b) The ADE shall be 100% OpenAMIP compliant, without serial connections between the antenna and BDE c) The system shall include at least two no-transmit or - cutout zones'. Cutout zones shall be programmable for both azimuth and elevation. d) The system shall provide user-free (no user-action required) switching between satellites without changing satellite-modem to CG-router IP address. e) The system shall not use any wireless protocols for normal operation; if wireless is available the wireless system shall be configurable to disable it without inhibiting any other system features. f) The system shall employ thin, lightweight ADE/BDE cables for Tx, Rx, control. Less is better. g) The ADE shall include an Antenna Rotary Joint h) The ADE shall be certified to IPX6 by an independent test facility i) The system shall operate at -15F to 130F j) The system shall accept National Marine Electronics Association NMEA 0183 and cutter gyro inputs. k) The system shall provide and use an internal GPS to obtain position information. l) The system shall be capable of operating from 115-Volt 60 Hz Alternating Current (VAC) m) The Coast Guard prefers to own the shipboard equipment (no leasing of the systems) n) The shipboard equipment shall have a two year warranty and options for extended warranties o) The ADE shall include antenna brakes p) When in multiple satellite coverage areas switching between satellites should be automatic, with minimal packet loss experienced on the cutter private network. Modem dwell for satellite acquisition before moving to next best satellite should be less than 3 minutes. System Coverage and Reliability: The System shall provide broadband capabilities within the following outlined area: *Please open attachment to view the Mercator Projection map. Please contact the contract specialist if you are unable to view this image. This coverage area is called the - Traditional' coverage area. The system shall be capable of providing broadband speeds throughout the entire Traditional Area. The Coast Guard requests industry responses identify the following expected reliability figures: - The reliability of the proposed broadband connection throughout the entire Traditional coverage area. This figure should include environmental concerns such as rain fade, shore side system maintenance outages and the potential for un-scheduled outages on both the RF and IP network delivery solutions. The reliability figure should not include episodes onboard the remotes, such as cutter mast blockage or any cutter related outages. If proposing a Ka band solution, the contractor should identify the optimization strategies that the system employs to increase reliability and to provide a projected reliability of Ka service within the depicted operating area using the same parameters specified above. The desired reliability of the broadband connection in the Traditional Coverage area is 99.0% - The reliability of the proposed broadband connection - worldwide' (worldwide defined as 70oN - 70oS). This figure should be derived using the same assumptions and constraints discussed above. The desired reliability worldwide is at least 85.0% - The above reliability figures should not include the use of the Coast Guard Fleet Broadband system or vendor-proposed alternative system. However, when coupled with the Coast Guard Sailor Phone 500 Fleet Broadband system, or the recommended alternate that provides additional coverage, the combined systems should provide 100% coverage 70oN - 70oS. System Bandwidth: The contractor shall provide bandwidth the following bandwidth purchase options at a minimum. For the purpose of this discussion - worldwide' is defined as the area between 70oN and 70oS. - Bulk bandwidth - Bulk bandwidth is bandwidth that is available in a - pooled' fashion for any properly-equipped & configured system to use (either large or small variant). Bulk bandwidth should be available for each/all of the teleports that support the Traditional coverage area. While not required, the Coast Guard would be interested in pricing for bulk bandwidth worldwide if available. When using bulk bandwidth, shipboard systems shall make use of the dynamic bandwidth allocation feature of the existing Ku system iDirect modem that enables any system to burst to the maximum data rate physically possible, if the bandwidth is available. The Coast Guard desires bulk bandwidth pricing in monthly or annual increments and in increments of 2 Mbps shore-ship by 1 Mbps ship-shore. The Coast Guard desires bulk bandwidth pricing by teleport with monthly or annual options. Teleport bandwidth increments in the Traditional coverage area should be 5, 10Mbps outgoing (up to DS3) and 2.5, 5 Mbps incoming up to (22.5Mbps). - Per-Cutter Bandwidth Plans - Per Cutter Bandwidth Plans shall be available to purchase dedicated bandwidth available to a single cutter. Note that the Coast Guard desires single plan pricing on a per-cutter basis (even if the cutter has a dual-antenna system). The Coast Guard desires cutter bandwidth plan pricing in monthly or annual T-1 incrementsup to fractional T-1 levels (6-8 T-1's) The Coast Guard is aware that many satellite-airtime vendors package Ku, Ka, C, or other high-bandwidth services with lower-speed L-band service using a single flat rate. This provides increased reliability (albeit at a slower speed in some cases) as well as more ubiquitous coverage than either service offers alone. The Coast Guard desires a single package plan similar to this that includes the bandwidth cost for use of the existing Coast Guard Sailor Phone 500 Fleet Broadband connectivity and bandwidth or the vendors recommended alternate system bandwidth packaged with the broadband service for a single flat rate. System Network Delivery: The contractor-provided teleport facility must be a secure facility that is physically manned 24x7 by the commercial teleport operator, have controlled visitor access and a physically diverse connection to outside Telco's that provide 99.99% reliability. The contractor teleport network connecting to the Coast Guard MPLS network shall meet the Security Characterization in accordance with FIPS 199 with Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) levels designated as HIGH. The contractor must have a Facility Clearance and follow all procedures in accordance with the US DoD Security Service Facility Clearance instructions; http://www.dss.mil/isp/fac_clear/fac_clear_check.html FIPS 199 - Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6). If IPv6 is not currently available, the contractor shall provide a timeline for IPv6 availability as part of the technical proposal. Instructions: 1. Questions relative to this market survey should be addressed by email to the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO, Raissa Figueiredo, email - Raissa.Q.Figueiredo@uscg.mil No telephone calls will be accepted. All questions must be received by May 20, 2016 by 5:00 P.M. EST 2. Any information submitted is at the company's own expense. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with submission of capability statements in connection with the market survey. Any information provided is voluntary. 3. Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked. 4. Responses to questions are expected on or about May 27, 2016. Response Criteria: If qualified and interested, parties should submit a statement of capability, not exceed twenty (20) pages, double spaced, page size: 8 - x 11 inches, font size: 12 pitch or greater, outlining past work that is related to this requirement as stated above. The statement of capability shall include: 1. Contractor Information - a. Name of Point of Contact (POC), voice telephone number, email address b. NAICS Code, Product Service Code, any information Information on company's products/services c. Company's capability, company size/profile, and d. Any other supportive information e.g. previous company work experience. 2. Provide the company's solution/approach to the above requirements. The submittal shall be in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Microsoft Word Format. Electronic copy submittals are acceptable. Respondents are responsible for ensuring electronic versions are virus free. Electronic submissions are due on or before June 3, 2016, by 5:00 P.M. EST, to: Raissa.Q.Figueiredo@uscg.mil Responses which do not clearly and completely address the questions above will be considered as submitted for general informational purposes only, and not considered a demonstration of intent to submit a proposal to any eventual Request for Proposal (RFP). Only qualified respondents will be placed on the solicitation mailing list If your firm lacks sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how your firm would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (e.g., teaming, subcontracting, etc.) A lack of Small Business responses to this notice may be treated as evidence of disinterest/incapability of Small Businesses to submit a proposal to any eventual RFP. 1) If a different NAICS code appears more appropriate for this action, please provide the suggested code with an explanation as to why it is more appropriate. Note, your organization does not currently need to be registered under the NAICS to provide capabilities information in response to this Sources Sought notice. 2) Upon any eventual release of a Request for Proposals, is your organization's intent to issue a proposal as Prime Contractor for this effort, or as a Subcontractor? Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research, Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged. Identify any areas of work that your organization believes should be broken out exclusively for Small Business. 3) For Small Business respondents with interest as a prime contractor, please estimate the maximum percentage of the overall requirement which your organization could perform with in-house resources. Consider the language at FAR Clause 52.219-14(c) -- Limitations on Subcontracting in your response. 4) If your company is planning on business arrangements with other companies, please state the process used in selecting the members. 5) If your company has performed this type of effort or similar type effort in the past, provide Contract Number, Point of Contact (POC), e-mail address, phone number, and brief description of your direct support of the effort. 6) Does your company have a current registration in the U.S. Government System for Award Management (SAM)? Contracting Office Address: 7323 Telegraph Rd. Alexandria, VA 22315 United States Place of Performance: Various United States Primary Point of Contact: Raissa Figueiredo, Contract Specialist, Raissa.Q.Figueiredo@uscg.mil