Telecommunication Transport Services and Dedicated Internet Access

Education Service Center Region 13 is soliciting proposals for Telecommunication Transport Services and Dedicated Internet Access to support public schools across Central Texas, building on a long-standing commitment since 1997 to provide affordable, reliable connectivity for educational operations. The solicitation, identified as 2026-21 Addendum 1 and posted on May 21, 2026, with a submission deadline of June 23, 2026, is structured under NAICS code 517111 and seeks multiple award contracts to ensure flexibility in aligning vendor capabilities with diverse connectivity needs across the region. Proposals must be submitted electronically through the ION WAVE portal and include a signed Comprehensive Compliance Form, an updated Probable Cost Estimate, a completed Proposal Questionnaire, and a qualifications document limited to 20 pages. Offerors are required to demonstrate experience delivering Dedicated Internet Access and transport services, particularly in Texas K–12 environments, with specific emphasis on network architecture, last-mile capabilities, and the ability to connect to ESC Region 13’s co-location facility at 1905 E. 6th Street in Austin. Vendors must provide detailed service level agreements covering uptime, latency, jitter, packet loss, and time-to-repair metrics, alongside 24/7 Network Operations Center support with defined escalation procedures and staffing qualifications. Pricing must be submitted through the ION WAVE system using the designated line-item template, with monthly recurring and non-recurring charges, bandwidth scalability, and escalation terms clearly outlined. Technical evaluation will assess organizational experience, geographic coverage, compliance with federal and state regulations—including Buy America, Davis-Bacon, and EPA recovered materials standards—and vendor references, while pricing will be weighed alongside technical merit, indicating a best-value trade-off approach rather than lowest-price technically acceptable. All proposers must certify compliance with federal requirements, affirm valid Texas business registration, hold appropriate insurance, and ensure personnel have at least three years of network experience. The contract performance will occur entirely within Texas, with services required to support dual-stack IPv4/IPv6, BGP routing, VLAN aggregation, and DDoS protection, and no contract type, estimated value, or payment office details are specified, leaving those determinations to the evaluation and award process.