·       Before the listed deadlines, 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 the system is down before the 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. The applicant reserves the right to request and obtain bids outside of the website system if the bid deadline has passed and zero or one bid is received (the intent for this is to follow USAC guidance on obtaining cost-effective bids).

·      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. SPAM and/or robotic responses will not be considered valid bid responses and will be disqualified from consideration.

·       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 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.

·       LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Bids submitted for services to an incorrect address will be disqualified.

·       LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS 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.

·       LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Vendors must bid all connections. If vendors submit a bid missing any connection, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid.

·       HOT SPOTS & SERVICE FOR HOME INTERNET USE DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR:  Service providers are required to bid both services and equipment.  Bids received for only services or only equipment will be disqualified as incomplete.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: The applicant will not accept bids from manufacturers of equipment deemed a national security threat by the Federal Communications Commission. The list of prohibited equipment is available here: https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist . Vendors that submit bids that includes these manufacturers will have their bid disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: 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 D ONLY: It will be the bidder’s responsibility to provide documentation about the compatibility requirements listed in this IFCB. Vendors that submit bids without documentation demonstrating the required compatibility listed in this IFCB will have their bids disqualified, unless that vendor has bid the preferred make/model number listed.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

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

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project A, Project B, Project C and/or Project D.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project E and/or  Project F.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

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

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Maintenance bids listing only an hourly rate and not a monthly or annual total will be disqualified.  Vendors quoting an hourly rate are required to also a) confirm that you have the ability/expertise to maintain all of the equipment listed and b) propose a number of hours at a particular rate monthly to properly maintain the entire list of equipment.  Bids that contain only hourly rates, without confirmation that the company can service the list of equipment, or without a monthly total will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

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

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR MIBS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project G and/or Project H.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

·       DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR MIBS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

Category One:

Leased Wide Area Network Circuits –Five connections any delivery/technology type.  Leased dark fiber bidders should bid 12 fiber strands for all existing locations and 4 fiber strands for the New Middle School. Lit leased fiber bidders should bid 5 GB. Pricing should be based on 3 year and 5 year term options with 1 year voluntary extensions.

These connections will be from the NOC located at Fredericksburg Middle School – 211 West College Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 to the following sites:

1.       Fredericksburg Elementary School – 1608 N Adams Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (12 strands)

2.       Fredericksburg High School – 1107 HWY 16, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (12 strands)

3.       Central Office – 234 Friendship Lane, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (12 strands)

4.       AG Building – 119 Hollmig Lane, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (12 strands)

5.       New Fredericksburg Middle School – 1401 Post Oak Road, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (4 strands)

LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Bids submitted for services to an incorrect address will be disqualified.

LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS 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.

LEASED WIDE AREA NETWORK CIRCUITS DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Vendors must bid all connections. If vendors submit a bid missing any connection, we will consider your bid incomplete and disqualify your bid.

Operations and Maintenance services – Five connections, from the NOC located at Fredericksburg Middle School – 211 West College Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 to the following sites:

1.       Fredericksburg Elementary School – 1608 N Adams Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

2.       Fredericksburg High School – 1107 HWY 16, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

3.       Central Office – 234 Friendship Lane, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

4.       AG Building – 119 Hollmig Lane, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

5.       New Fredericksburg Middle School – 1401 Post Oak Road, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

Hot Spots & Service for Home Internet Use - The district is requesting bids for 20 hot spot devices including 20 monthly service plans.  Please include any installation, activation, configuration costs in your pricing.  Please include separate pricing for any CIPA/filtering costs. 

HOT SPOTS & SERVICE FOR HOME INTERNET USE DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR:  Service providers are required to bid both services and equipment.  Bids received for only services or only equipment will be disqualified as incomplete.

Category Two:

MANDATORY SITE VISIT

Vendors wishing to submit bids for category two projects must attend one of two mandatory site visits. The site visits will be held on January 15^th, 2025 and January 22^nd, 2025. Both will begin at 10am. Vendors will meet at 211 W. College Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624. Vendors will meet with John Hext. Bids from vendors who did not attend either of the site visits will be disqualified.

INTERNAL CONNECTIONS

We are moving our NOC to a new location. While some of our equipment is new, most is older and in need of replacement. We would like the bids to be to replace the current switches, firewall, UPS, and caching servers.

IC Project A – Firewall

Installation and configuration needed.

NOTE: We are requesting firewall 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).

IC Project B – Solution A

Installation and configuration needed. No drops needed.

NOTE: We are requesting WAP and/or 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).

IC Project C – Solution B

Installation and configuration needed. No drops needed.

NOTE: We are requesting WAP and/or 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).

IC Project D – WAPs

Installation and configuration needed. No drops needed.

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).

COMPATIBILITY REQUIREMENT:

Wireless access points must be compatible with existing Cisco Meraki network.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: The applicant will not accept bids from manufacturers of equipment deemed a national security threat by the Federal Communications Commission. The list of prohibited equipment is available here: https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist . Vendors that submit bids that includes these manufacturers will have their bid disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: 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 D ONLY: It will be the bidder’s responsibility to provide documentation about the compatibility requirements listed in this IFCB. Vendors that submit bids without documentation demonstrating the required compatibility listed in this IFCB will have their bids disqualified, unless that vendor has bid the preferred make/model number listed.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

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

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR INTERNAL CONNECTIONS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project A, Project B, Project C and/or Project D.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

BASIC MAINTENANCE OF INTERNAL CONNECTIONS:

BMIC Project E – Solution A

The district would like a block of 12 hours per month for the support of eligible equipment.

BMIC Project F – Solution B

The district would like a block of 12 hours per month for the support of eligible equipment.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project E and/or  Project F.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

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

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Maintenance bids listing only an hourly rate and not a monthly or annual total will be disqualified.  Vendors quoting an hourly rate are required to also a) confirm that you have the ability/expertise to maintain all of the equipment listed and b) propose a number of hours at a particular rate monthly to properly maintain the entire list of equipment.  Bids that contain only hourly rates, without confirmation that the company can service the list of equipment, or without a monthly total will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR BMIC: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.

Managed Internal Broadband Service (MIBS):

MIBS Project G – Solution A

The district would like MIBS services for the following existing equipment

MIBS Project H – Solution B

The district would like MIBS services for the following existing equipment

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

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR MIBS: Service providers are required to bid an entire Project G and/or Project H.  Bids for individual components, or bids that do not include all of the requested items for the project will be disqualified.

DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR MIBS: Vendors who wish to bid must attend one of two mandatory site visits. Vendors who submit a bid but have not attended a meeting will be disqualified.