All bid deadlines are 11:59pm Pacific Time the date of the bid deadline listed unless otherwise noted.

school Abernathy ISD
IFCB Posted : Oct 13, 2017
Bid Deadline : Tuesday, Nov 28, 2017

Questions Due By : Monday, Oct 23, 2017
Applicant Address : Abernathy, TX 79311
IFCB ID : 180001953

IFCB Requirements :
·         All Questions and Bids must be submitted using the on-line IFCB system. If for some reason the system is down before the respective deadline, please email your bid to info@crwconsulting.com or fax it to 918.445.0049. Bids or questions submitted in this fashion will be disqualified if the on-line system is active at the time of submission.
 
·         Bidder must agree to participate in USF Program (AKA “E-rate”) for the corresponding funding year.
 
·         Please include the correct Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) on your bid.
 
·         By submitting a bid, bidder certifies that the bidder does have a valid (non-red light status) SPIN for the E-rate program at the time of submission. Should the Applicant discover that the bidder is on red light status, or if the FCC classifies the bidder as on red-light status before work is performed and invoices are paid, the contract will be null and void and the applicant will have no payment obligations to the bidder.
 
·         Bidder is expected to provide the lowest corresponding price per E-rate rules.  See http://www.usac.org/sl/service-providers/step02/lowest-corresponding-price.aspx for details.
 
·         Contracts must not prohibit SPIN changes.
 
·         Bidder must agree to provide the Applicant the choice of discount methods (SPI or BEAR).
 
·         Bidder will be automatically disqualified if the District determines that the bidding company has offered any employee of the District any individual gift of more than $20 or gifts totaling more than $50 within a 12 month period.
 
·         All contracts awarded will be contingent upon E-rate funding and final board approval.  The applicant may choose to do all or part of the project upon funding notification.
 
·         All contracts awarded under this IFCB bidding process may be voluntarily renewed by the applicant, upon written notice to the provider, for five consecutive one year terms. Please include this language in your final contract.
 
·         All applicable fees, surcharges, and taxes must be identified on the bid. E-rate rules require the applicants to evaluate the price of eligible goods and services that will be listed on the 471 application during the competitive bidding process. Fees and surcharges that apply but are not listed on the bid will be the responsibility of the bidding company, should their bid be awarded.
 
·         E-rate rules require applicants to evaluate the cost of eligible goods and services, and to cost-allocate out the amount for ineligible services from their funding request. If your company will be bidding internet access service, please identify the amount to be cost-allocated out for the ineligible services – email service, web hosting, content filtering, or other bundled ineligible services.
 
·         INTERNET ACCESS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Any and all installation charges must be identified on your bid. If you submit a bid indicating that installation charges may apply without listing those charges, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid.
 

Services and Equipment Requested :
UPDATE: 11/6/17 2:44pm-The bid deadline has been extended until 11/28/17.

Internet Access – Minimum 100Mb bandwidth, maximum 1Gbps bandwidth. Please also include bids for 150Mbps, 200Mbps, and 250Mbps, 300Mbps, 350Mbps, 400Mbps, 450Mbps, 500Mbps, 550Mbps, 600Mbps, 650Mbps, 700Mbps, 750Mbps, 800Mbps, 850Mbps, and 900Mbps. Please provide bids for 1, 3, and 5 year terms.  Internet service should include firewall service, DNS service, and 30 public IP addresses.  Please list all circuit providers involved and describe each portion.  Describe all other included services, (i.e. Internet 2 Access, bandwidth reporting, multiple connections to internet, etc.).  The terminating address for this circuit is 505 7th Street, Abernathy, TX 79311; (806)298.  E-rate rules require applicants to evaluate the cost of eligible goods and services, and to cost-allocate out the amount for ineligible services from their funding request.  If your company will be bidding internet access service, please identify the amount to be cost-allocated out for the ineligible services – email service, web hosting, content filtering, or other bundled ineligible services. 

 
NOTE: Per USAC’s current guidance about applying for Internet access this applicant is checking the Leased Lit Fiber, Internet Access: ISP Service only and Internet Access and Transport Bundled.
INTERNET ACCESS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Any and all installation charges must be identified on your bid. If you submit a bid indicating that installation charges may apply without listing those charges, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid. 

Questions Received with Applicant Answers   ( Ask Questions? )




Is this for Internet or Private Line Internet? Lit Fiber? Internet Access and Transport Bundle? Just want to make sure we understand what each of the 3 requests is asking so we can provide accurate information. Thanks!

Answer:
 USAC’s instructions provided in their 8/22/2017 news brief (for applicants who are looking for Internet access that may be delivered via  fiber connection) instruct applicants to select “Internet Access and Transport Bundled”, “Leased Lit Fiber,” and Internet Access: ISP Service Only.” See: http://www.universalservice.org/sl/tools/news-briefs/preview.aspx?id=786 

We understand that this new guidance may cause some confusion with service providers that are looking to bid the project but if you can offer Internet access to the address listed, within the bandwidth range specified, your bid would be responsive. 

What are the specs/requirements on the firewall service? Thanks!

Answer:
 Firewall Service Specifications:

Basic firewall protection intended to block malicious traffic from entering the Abernathy ISD network.

The firewall protection should tailored to the needs of the district and modified as those needs change.

Initially the protection be configured to allow-in only common/standard traffic (i.e. port 80, 443, e-mail, etc.); blocking any other traffic which is initiated outside of the firewall.

Please describe the process that the district personnel would follow to initiate needed changes.  Also describe the typical timelines and additional costs to implement those changes.