LEC Services for Locations Throughout United States

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Development, Security and Operations (DSO) Telecommunications Provisioning Office (TPO) has a requirement for Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) Services across the VA, VA Medical Centers (VAMC), Veteran Outreach Centers, Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) Veterans Benefits and National Cemeteries, and other VA facilities across the United States. The proposed project will allow OIT to centralize management of telephone services and accomplish its goal of reducing overall telecommunications expenses. These LEC services consist of:  LEC voice and data communications services at various VA locations in accordance with Section 5.2 (see attached). Voice and data services include but are not limited to: Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) Line Flat Rate, Primary Rate Integrated (PRI) Services Digital Network (ISDN), Direct Inward Dialing (DID) for each line, Caller ID on PRI, and other features according to the Market Research workbook. The VA must be listed and retained as the customer of record. Contractor must own the services/infrastructure being provided.  The Contractor shall provide telecommunication services at the facilities 24 hours per day, seven days per week with maximum service availability.  The North American Industrial Classification (NAICS) for this effort is 517111 Wired Telecommunication Carriers.

 This notice does not in itself represent the issuance of a formal request for proposal/quote and is not intended to be taken as such.  This is a request for Information (RFI) only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bid, Request for Quotation, or a Request for Proposal.  Do not submit a proposal or a quote.  This market research is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation nor does it restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach.  In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.  Additionally, there is no obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI.  You will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI.  Any contract that might be awarded based on information received or derived from this market research will be the outcome of a competitive process.  Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response.  The Government does not intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI.

Submittal Instructions:

If your company is capable of providing the aforementioned services, please submit a Vendor Capabilities Statement, limited to five pages for your company, to include a cover page which indicates your company’s full name, points of contact and your size standard for NAICS 517111.

Please complete the attached entitled “RFI Market Research Workbook –  Asheville CPAC”, by inputting data into all applicable cells.  The Technical workbook captures the ability to provide coverage for each of the required services, in the quantity required, at each of the required Service Delivery Points (SDPs).  Using the drop-down selection menu found at Column K of the Attachment, please state “yes” or “no” as to whether you can provide the requisite service, in the requisite quantity, to the requisite SDP.  A “yes” or “no” designation must be entered for each and every item; no item shall be left blank.  Please note that all “yes” responses will change the blank cell to green; and all “no” responses will change the blank cell to red.  The Market Research Workbook will automatically calculate the total number of “yes” entries (Column L – “Total Yes”), the total number of “no” entries (Column M – “Total No”), and the total number of required entries left blank (Column O – “Total Blank”).

All interested parties who can supply all the required services at all the listed SDPs shall respond no later than 5:00 PM CST on Mar 10,2024 via email to Belinda.epindola@va.gov.