All bid deadlines are 11:59pm Pacific Time the date of the bid deadline listed unless otherwise noted.
· Before the bid deadline, all Questions and Bids must be submitted using the on-line IFCB system. Bids submitted before the bid deadline outside of this system will be disqualified. 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.
· For all requested services and/or products listed on this IFCB: proposals that include generic/encyclopedic price lists will be considered non-responsive and will be disqualified.
· 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 https://www.usac.org/e-rate/service-providers/step-2-responding-to-bids/lowest-corresponding-price/ 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.
· If there is a request for Internal Connections (Category Two) equipment, or Category One equipment listed on this IFCB the applicant will accept bids for functionally equivalent equipment.
· 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.
· INTERNET ACCESS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Bids submitted for services to an incorrect address will be disqualified.
Category 1
Internet Access – District is seeking 25 GB bandwidth, scalable up to 50 GB bandwidth. Terminating address for this circuit is 16717 Ella Blvd, Houston 77090. Please include pricing for a leased router.
Please see following items available for download:
Technical Specifications for Internet Access
Standard Terms
24 005 Bid Invitation
24 005 COI
W9
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.
INTERNET ACCESS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Bids submitted for services to an incorrect address will be disqualified.
| Technical_Specifications_for_Internet_Access.pdf |
| Standard_Terms.pdf |
| 24_005_Bid_Invitation.docx |
| 24_005_COI.pdf |
| W9.pdf |
Answer:
(1) In the Technical Specifications for Internet Access document, the first requirement states, "Vendor must include pricing for a leased switch/router to be provided to Spring ISD to provide connectivity to the vendor’s internet connection. That device must be capable of handling the bandwidth that the vendor is providing for the connection." Please confirm if a leased switch/router supplied by the vendor is a mandatory requirement, and will result in a bid disqualification if not offered. Yes, this is a mandatory requirement.
(2) Are the Terms and Conditions supplied in the bid request mandatory, or are they negotiable? Yes, we are open to negotiation, however, we may not be able to accept the deviation.
Answer:
1. On the contract term, the technical specs refer to one and three-year pricing, but the Bid Invitation states a one-year term with four additional one-year terms. What contractual pricing terms options should we provide? We would like bids with a one and three year terms. If you are able to include voluntary renewals (up to four 1 year renewals) for those one and three year terms we would appreciate that.
2. What type of hand-off is the customer requesting? Multiple 10GBs in a LAG, 25Gb, or 40Gb? From our router to the vendors is a 40 GB handoff for a 25 GB internet pipe.
