JA11-002-Thule Satellite Service

Procurement Request Number: Justification for OTFAOC Number: ____JA11-002____________ JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Procuring Activity Competition Advocate (PACA), hereby approve the use of other than full and open competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) . JUSTIFICATION 1. Agency and Contracting Activity. a. Defense Information Systems Agency, Transport Service Division NS2, Terrestrial Transport Branch, NS21 Attn: Dr. Leon J. Nicely, Sr. P.O. Box 4502 Arlington, VA 22204-4502 b. Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) ATTN: PL8222 Scott AFB, IL 62225-5406 2. Nature/Description of Action(s). The purpose of this contract action is to obtain approval to issue a firm fixed price, sole source bridge modification action to Contract: [REDACTED] to the incumbent vendor, [REDACTED], a large business. The bridge contract will allow the current vendor to continue to provide critical satellite bandwidth (B/W) service between Schriever Air Force Base (SSAFB), Colorado Springs, Co and Thule Tracking Station (TTS), Thule, Greenland. The leased telecommunication service provided by [REDACTED] directly supports critical Command, Control, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) Communication mission requirements between SSAFB and TTS. The existing DITCO commercial contract, [REDACTED] is currently on its last authorized 6 month extension. This previous 6 month extension was accomplished with an approved Justification and Approval (J&A) which expires 31 October 2010. To continue to provide uninterrupted service, the current Thule Contract must remain in place and operational until a new, highly reliable service capable of supporting current and future customer requirements is in place. This bridge is anticipated to be the last contract period for the existing contract as future service will be provided under a proposed new sole source requirement for a Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) DS-3 circuit. Currently, the acquisition package for this requirement is in the planning stage. It is anticipated to be a sole source to [REDACTED] for leased satellite services. [REDACTED] is the only vendor who has facilities and equipment in place to provide the service. Any other vendor would have to construct facilities to house the equipment. This would take a minimum of two construction seasons. Construction seasons in Thule are limited to approximately three months each summer. The remainder of the year, the weather is not conducive to construction projects as the temperature averages well below freezing. Therefore, any other providor would require a minimum of 18 months to even get to the point where they could install a satellite, and the cost to the Government would be prohibitive. During the last approved extension, the government attempted to compete an interim solution until a higher bandwidth solution could be put into place. Market research indicated the services were available under the [REDACTED], which was a fully competed single source IDIQ contract. A delivery order was issued in January of 2010 with an anticipated full operational capability date of 01 April 2010. Due to the isolated nature of the TTS, limited and unreliable infrastructure, and weather constraints; the [REDACTED] contractor has been unable to deliver service that is acceptable to the Government to date. The fiber solution attempted was unsuccessful even though the Government allowed the contractor several additional months to take action necessary to bring it up to standards. Performance testing in late September was still far below acceptable standards, and it became apparent that the service could not and would not meet the Government's needs in a timely manner, if ever. [REDACTED]. In order to continue to provide uninterrupted service to this critical location, the [REDACTED] contract is the only viable option and must remain in place and operational until the government can complete the new DISN DS-3 requirement. The new DS-3 solution is anticipated to be in place and operational during the third quarter of FY 2011. The Period of Performance for this effort will be a six-month (6) base period (01 November 2010-30 April 2011) with one (1) three-month (3) option period (01 May 2011 - 31 July 2011). There are no other available contract vehicles by which this award can be made, and if the current contract is not extended this vital communications link will be disconnected. [REDACTED]. The estimated six-month base period operational cost is [REDACTED]. The estimated operational cost for the three-month option period is [REDACTED] totaling [REDACTED]. This bridge contract is for severable services. The total estimated Life Cycle Cost for the bridge contract is: [REDACTED], inclusive of all Options utilizing DWCF funds. The estimate was based on historical data from the current contract compared with quotations obtained from the incumbent vendor. Description of Supplies/Services. This bridge contract will support critical Command, Control, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) Communication mission requirements between SSAFB and TTS. The resultant contract action will consist of the leased service for five (5) continuous, uninterrupted, full duplex, dedicated T1 (1.544Mb) telecommunications circuits between SSAFB and TTS. The Government shall have the option to increase the bandwidth by ordering additional T1s. The vendor's Satellite Station is required to have the capability to support the addition of T1s as required to meet the U.S. Government mission. The Government anticipates the activation of two additional T1s during the performance period. This leased telecommunication service provided by [REDACTED] between Thule, Greenland and Schriever AFB, CO, directly supports DISA's ability to provide real time command and control communications to the War Fighters. Identification of Statutory Authority. The statutory authority that will be used for this bridge contract action is10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1)-Only one responsible source and no other supplies or service will satisfy agency requirement-FAR 6.302-1(a) (2) (iii) (B). Demonstration of Contractor's Unique Qualifications The incumbent, [REDACTED], is currently the only commercial provider of high band-width satellite service into Thule, Greenland. [REDACTED] is the only commercial communications company that already has in place all the equipment, facilities, and infrastructure needed to provide, operate and maintain the requested service. They have an operational Satellite Station [REDACTED] is the sole owner and operator of the only satellite equipment at the Thule Tracking Station, and also owns the facility that houses this equipment. In an effort to obtain service and allow competition for this vital communication link an order was awarded to [REDACTED]. [REDACTED]infrastructure (i.e., base station presence at Thule, [REDACTED]) did not allow [REDACTED] to provide the necessary acceptable level of dependable connectivity (without excessive errors) in a timely manner. Based on the exhaustive testing by DISA's provision engineers and [REDACTED]engineer and the unacceptable test results for this [REDACTED] requirement, the Government determined that the chance of losing this vital connectivity was too great a risk. Without a sole award to the incumbent vendor who has a lengthy history of providing reliable service, the telecommunication service between Thule and Schriever would fall far below acceptable standards. Additional market research conducted in April 2010 has revealed that no communication vendor can provide the required service without duplicating all of the facilities (i.e., [REDACTED]) and incurring prohibitive excessive infrastructure build-out costs. [REDACTED] currently has the required infrastructure in place. Because completion of construction at Thule, Greenland may take longer than two years, a lengthy lead-time is needed to allow other vendors an opportunity to compete. This long construction cycle is due to the adverse weather conditions at Thule. The construction season for exterior work at Thule is from 15 Jul to 15 September only. The number of daylight hours per day fluctuates depending on the time of the year and can range from 0-24. There are no other known vendors who are willing or able to make the large capital investment necessary to compete for this requirement, and the long lead time needed to establish a presence at the Thule location further inhibits competition. Transportation of equipment and supplies to that location is extremely limited as well and dependant on weather conditions. In addition, continued service with the existing contractor until a final DISN solution can be implemented would allow the warfighter to continue the missions without experiencing a disruption in service. Any disruption of service would have a negative impact on current operations and loss in continuity of operations. Without this continuity of the satellite lease, the operational service would require quickest (near simultaneous) transition to another satellite. The bridge contract also offers DISA a unique opportunity to leverage a known and operationally proven capability without our warfighters suffering loss of mission critical services as a result of waiting for the limited implementation window at Thule. 6. FedBizOpps Announcement/Potential Sources. Upon approval of this Justification, a FEDBIZOPPS notice will be published as required by FAR Subpart 5.2. 7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost. The Contracting Officer will determine the proposed/negotiated price for this acquisition is fair and reasonable, using a variety of price analysis techniques and procedures as prescribed in FAR 15.404-1 (b). Additionally, information other than cost and pricing data may be obtained from the vendor to determine a fair and reasonable price. 8. Description of Market Research. Market research was conducted in the summer of 2009 by DITCO and DISA/NS2. As part of market research efforts, DISA researched the commercial market place to determine if there were any other vendors capable of supporting this critical requirement within the required time frame (Apr 2010), in a remote location and without causing an interruption of this critical service. DISA also explored the option of using other existing technical solutions like the DISN DSTS-G contract, Department Of Commerce DoC NOAA Bandwidth contract and DTS-PII contract. Additional market research was conducted in the spring of 2010 via Internet research, reviewing GSA Advantage and comparing existing contract cost information. Based on availability, location and existing equipment, bridging our existing contract until a new DISN DS-3 solution is implemented is the only economically feasible solution that meets all program requirements without unacceptable delay of service. Thule is a remote location with an extremely small window for construction and extreme weather conditions to contend with that create an exceedingly challenging logistical problem. 9. Any Other Supporting Facts. For several weeks DISA attempted to utilize the long-haul communication service the [REDACTED] vendor provided, however, the vendor was unable to provide a dependable circuit that was able to pass initial test and acceptance criteria. 10. Listing of Interested Sources. Verizon is the [REDACTED] vendor and is interested in providing this service. [REDACTED] 11. Actions Taken to Remove Barriers to Competition. In future acquisitions, the government will consider any source that has capability to provide reliable high band-width and/or satellite service into Thule, Greenland. Since the proposed contracting action is for continued service within the only existing commercial satellite earth station, it is impossible at this time to compete this requirement. Maintaining the current satellite bandwidth is of utmost importance in supporting the warfighters. As communications satellite networks evolve, other vendors may develop significant future capabilities and capacity the government can exploit and the government will have the capability to compete future commercial requirements into Thule, Greenland. - 12. Reference to the Approved Acquisition Plan (AP)/Program Plan (PP). An Acquisition Plan is not required. Ref DFAR 207.103(d)(i) and DARS 7.9002.