·         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. This does not apply to the recent FCC exemptions of the Gift Rule for the COVID pandemic.

·         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.

·         The winning vendor will be required to complete the USAC approved Item 21 template for the project within 7 working days after notification that the vendor has won the bid.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Bids from companies that include equipment barred by the Federal Communications Commission due to national security risks (such as ZTE or Huawei) will be disqualified.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PROJECT A: Vendors who wish to bid must attend a mandatory site visit. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Bids that include equipment that was manufactured for use outside of the United States will be disqualified.

·         DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project A, Project B or Project C.  Bids for individual components of a single project will be disqualified.

UPDATE 12/24/20 - Two documents with details about the current equipment have been added

Category 1

Internet Access – Please provide bids for 1 GB bandwidth. Circuit terminates at Benton HS, 211 N. Border St, Benton, AR 72015. 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.

Category 2

Internal Connections

MANDATORY SITE VISIT PROJECT A

Vendors wishing to submit bids for Project A - Rewiring must attend a mandatory site visit. The site visits will be held on December 14, 2020 through December 18, 2020.  Vendors will meet at Benton HS, 211 N Border St, Benton, AR 72015. Contact Brian Lowrance at 501-326-8869 to set up an appointment for one of these dates. District would prefer to set appointments between 9:00 am and 12:00 pm on those dates. THIS PHONE NUMBER IS TO SET AN APPOINTMENT ONLY. ALL QUESTIONS AND BIDS MUST STILL BE SUBMITTED VIA THE IFCB. Bids not submitted via the IFCB will be disqualified. Bids from vendors who did not attend a site visit will be disqualified.

Project A – Rewiring: Remove existing cabling and rewire. Provide protective covering for floor boxes.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS PROJECT A: Vendors who wish to bid must attend a mandatory site visit. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

Project B – Licensing for existing Wireless Access Points – Provide 5 year license for Extreme Cloud IQ or functional equivalent to manage existing access points. 397 are Erate eligible, 36 are ineligible for Erate.

NOTE: We are requesting WAP licenses on this IFCB, which sometimes may be categorized as BMIC or MIBS by USAC (the BMIC and MIBS boxes on the 470 have been checked to cover this scenario).

Project C – Licensing for Existing Switches – Provide 5 year license for Aruba Central Management or functional equivalent for existing switches. There is another document available to download which details the make/model information.

NOTE: We are requesting switch licenses on this IFCB, which sometimes may be categorized as BMIC or MIBS by USAC (the BMIC and MIBS boxes on the 470 have been checked to cover this scenario).

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Bids from companies that include equipment barred by the Federal Communications Commission due to national security risks (such as ZTE or Huawei) will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Vendors must complete and include the C2 Cover Page with their bid. Bids received without the cover page will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Applicant will not accept bids for refurbished equipment. Any bids containing refurbished equipment will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS ALL PROJECTS: Bids that include equipment that was manufactured for use outside of the United States will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project A, Project B or Project C.  Bids for individual components of a single project will be disqualified.