XMTRNET

INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: Solicitation Number: AGM50-R-19-0011JG This notice is issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) section 5.201 to notify the public of a proposed contract action. Introduction: The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) intends to contract by means of other than full and open competition and enter into a sole source contract in accordance with FAR 6.302-1 "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements" with Intelsat General Corp, 7900 Tysons One Place, Floor 12, McLean, VA 22102-5979 Description: The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), will be issuing a new contract with a Base period of one (1) year plus four (4) option periods for satellite capacity, teleport hosting, managed teleport services and Dedicated Media Fiber network delivery. This is to support digital video and digital audio distribution of program content on Intelsat 17 (Landmass Beam) and Intelsat 19 (West Hemi Beam) originating at USAGM headquarters in Washington, D.C. and/or Ashburn, VA. The proposed satellite solutions must provide high-availability interconnects, deliver high quality content, and be agile enough to reach USAGM's distribution hubs, news bureaus, and international audiences via satellite and terrestrial network connectivity. Program content channels will be provided by USAGM to the service provider already encoded and ready to air in MPEG Transport Stream format (either separate SPTS or one single MPTS) at USAGM HQ (Cohen Building, WDC or Data Center in Ashburn, VA) representing a total aggregated stream of approximately 13.0 Mbps. The channels will be transported to Intelsat's Point of Presence in McLean, VA over dedicated Direct Internet Access (DIA) paths. The USAGM's goal is to obtain managed services which offer the following attributes: Cost effective, reliable, scalable, and secure global network capability optimized for high definition audio and video broadcast programming. Rapid procurement and deployment of new terrestrial and satellite connectivity services supporting urgent mission requirements. Connect anywhere in the world via any satellite via key terrestrial points-of-presence (POPs). Monitor, troubleshoot, and quickly restore any disruption in managed services. Simplify the management of network operations by offering turnkey services. SCOPE OF WORK. The Contractor shall maintain a digital broadcast and digital radio distribution infrastructure with an experienced and knowledgeable staff. The infrastructure shall include: - Digital video and digital audio teleport facilities capable of reformatting streams - Analyzing stream performance at the transport (MPEG) layer - Adjusting streams and Packet IDs (PIDs) - receiving digitally encoded transport stream(s) over Dedicated Fiber Transport and/or Direct Internet Access (DIA) digital media transport networks and - Providing technical staff capable of adjusting front panel digital video and audio encoder/decoder settings. The Contractor shall provide channelized Satellite Transponder capacity on both Intelsat 17 @66 east (Landmass Beam) and Intelsat 19 @166 east (West Hemi Beam) to accommodate identical 13.0 Mb/s program content streams on each satellite. The Contractor shall employ trained and experienced digital video and audio broadcast technicians capable of 24/7/365 signal monitoring and the ability to identify, troubleshoot, isolate and resolve signal anomalies and outages related to USAGM video and audio programming. The Contractor shall provide Satellite Transponder Capacity and Managed Teleport Services. These Managed Services will allow the USAGM flexibility to meet current and future program delivery requirements, including Direct to Home (DTH) and Over the Top (OTT). The Contractor shall provide two (2) diverse 13.0 Mb/s transport network connections from the Contractor's Point of Presence in McLean, VA for distribution by the Contractor to their teleport(s) for uplinking to Intelsat 17 @66o east and Intelsat 19 @166o east as a bundled Managed Service. There may be a future requirement for the Contractor to have the capability to arrange for the reception and delivery of USAGM content (confidence monitoring) and non-USAGM regional satellite contribution audio and video content as required by the USAGM for delivery to Point of Presence (POP) locations in Washington D.C. and/or Ashburn, VA. The Contractor shall provide 24/7/365 signal monitoring of contribution feed(s) and the teleport uplink/downlink program feeds provided to USAGM. The Contractor shall provide discrepancy reports to the USAGM Network Control Center (NCC) per this statement of work. In the event USAGM requires additional capacity on Intelsat 17 and Intelsat 19 or any other satellites in the Intelsat fleet, the Contractor shall have the ability to provide additional capacity and services, as required, upon receipt of a completed contract modification issued by the USAGM Office of Contracts. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE. The estimated period of performance for this Contract will be 1 (one) Base Year with 4 (four) 12 (twelve) month Option Years to be exercised at the Government's discretion. Base Year January 15, 2019 - January 14, 2020 Option Year One January 15, 2020 - January 14, 2021 Option Year Two January 15, 2021 - January 14, 2022 Option Year Three January 15, 2022 - January 14, 2023 Option Year Four January 15, 2023 - January 14, 2024 WORK REQUIREMENTS. TERRESTRIAL FIBER NETWORK, TELEPORT SERVICES AND CONTENT DELIVERY. The Contractor shall provide diverse 13.0 Mb/s Dedicated Media Fiber transport network connections from the Contractor's POP in McLean, VA for distribution by the Contractor to their teleport(s) for uplinking to Intelsat 17 @66o east and Intelsat 19 @166o east as a bundled Managed Service. DEDICATED MEDIA FIBER TRANSPORT FOR PRIMARY OR SECONDARY CONTRIBUTION FEED. This network shall be engineered to exceed 99.99% uptime availability measured over a 30-day period. The Contractor's Media Network backbone should be built to a standard that includes high-availability architecture for hardware and diverse underlying fiber routes with auto-protect switching to avoid outages in the event of an unavoidable network fiber cuts and planned maintenance events. INTERNET DELIVERY FOR PRIMARY OR SECONDARY CONTRIBUTION FEED. A potential future requirement may be for the Contractor to provide a Direct Internet Access (DIA) service which should be scaled to avoid traffic contention at the serving Point-of-Presence. An Uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA) for provided Internet DIA service should meet or exceed 99.0% availability measured over a 30-day period. The Contractor shall be responsible for managing and maintaining all terrestrial fiber circuits and ISP services serving its Points-of-Presence (POPs) and Teleport(s). USAGM will be responsible for ISP services leased by USAGM, serving its facilities through USAGM direct contracts with ISPs. MONITORING, REPORTING AND SERVICE OUTAGES. The Contractor shall staff a 24/7/365 Network Operations Center and Technical Support Call Center with competent English-speaking technicians to monitor USAGM's video and audio content and proactively communicate technical issues to USAGM's NCC. The Contractor shall provide coordination, system health monitoring (including content and signal quality monitoring at edge devices), and management of the network, components, and subsystems. The Contractor shall define response times for USAGM service calls, trouble ticket processing, and reporting. USAGM encourages the Contractor to provide an online portal (or similar system) accessible by USAGM NCC Staff to monitor the status of open trouble tickets. The Contractor shall contact USAGM's NCC every 15 minutes during a transmission outage providing updates including: status and remedial actions in place. The Contractor shall be responsible for returning the satellite services, teleport services and terrestrial circuits back to full operation as quickly as possible. If the outage is prolonged (more than 4 hours), the Contractor, with agreement from the USAGM Contracting Officer (CO), and or the Contracting Officers Representative (COR), shall be required to provide the USAGM with alternative signal/service routing to maintain continuity of operations. If the Contractor schedules satellite or terrestrial service outages in order to carry out system(s) maintenance, it shall be the Contractor's responsibility to notify and obtain USAGM's approval via USAGM NCC and COR in writing via email at least 48 hours prior to the planned maintenance period. The Contractor shall provide and notify the USAGM NCC and COR of measures to ensure continuation of maximum service during the planned maintenance outage. The Contractor shall coordinate with USAGM NCC to develop outage reporting and root-cause analysis forms for approval by the USAGM NCC Director after contract award. The Contractor shall host quarterly meetings (Teleconference/Skype/on site at USAGM) with the USAGM NCC Director, the USAGM COR and Program Manager (PM) to discuss operational concerns, (outages, maintenance etc.). These meetings shall be initiated by the Contractor and shall be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time with at least 1-week notice TECHNICAL RECOMMENDATIONS AND SERVICE UPGRADES. Where the Contractor is providing Managed Teleport Services, then the Contractor shall be responsible for providing technical recommendations to USAGM for consideration with respect to satellite and terrestrial content transmission and reception to/from USAGM's NCC. After contract award, or when the Contractor assumes Managed Teleport Services responsibilities, then the Contractor shall provide the USAGM with the make and model number(s) of encoders and decoders used within the satellite and terrestrial distribution network to ensure compatibility of service at both ends of the circuit. Where the Contractor is providing Managed Teleport Services, then the Contractor shall have adequate terrestrial bandwidth to deliver program content to the designated uplink Teleport(s) and to accommodate potential return feed program content requirements. CUSTOMER SUPPORT. The Contractor shall provide expert technical operations and a management team that can advise USAGM on optimal operational practices, recommend deployment network topologies, day-to-day and emergency procedures, performance reporting and metrics, and ensure the overall reliability and responsive operation of the network through both proactive planning and rapid situational response. SATELLITE CAPACITY. The Contractor shall provide satellite bandwidth capacity on Intelsat 17 @66 east and Intelsat 19 @166 east, in the C-Band frequency spectrum. The total satellite bandwidth shall be adequate to accommodate one (1) 13.0 Mb/s program content transport stream each. The only acceptable vendor identified for this service is: Intelsat General Corp, 7900 Tysons One Place, Floor 12, McLean, VA 22102-5979. This notice of intent in not a request for capability statements or competitive proposals. However all capability statements received within ten (10) days of the issuance of this notice will be considered by the agency. A determination by the Government not to compete this procurement based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. For questions concerning this notice, please contact Jacqueline Gray, Contract Specialist via email at jgray@usagm.gov, or Tisa Harvin, Contracting Officer, via e-mail at tharvin@usagm.gov. No telephone responses of an interested firm's statements of interest or capabilities will be accepted by the USAGM for this notice.