Description
SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT The proposed contract action is for a commercial license and services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under authority of FAR 6.302-1. Interested parties may identify their interest in, and capability to respond to, the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, all capability statements or proposals received within 10 days after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely to determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a follow-on contract requirement to provide an auction bidding system and related services to support its electromagnetic spectrum and other auctions for a base year and four one-year options. The agency currently pays the incumbent for a license to use its proprietary software and related services and to modify and host the system. The incumbent's software and services include patented proprietary auction design features that have been integrated into the agency's public-facing auction procedures and which, after periods of public comment, are a matter of public expectation. The agency has also made IT investments in the continued use of the existing system that would be lost were it to change contractors. In addition, transition to another contractor's system and unwinding the agency's auction process and published procedures from the incumbent's license and services, while meeting its auctions schedule, appears impossible and unrealistic from a cost and schedule standpoint. The source would need to provide auction bidding software and services meeting FCC requirements (including published public-facing procedures) that support: single-round or multi-round electromagnetic spectrum auctions, or combinations thereof; reverse auctions; multi-round electromagnetic spectrum auctions that are simultaneous multiple round or simple clock; single round electromagnetic spectrum auctions, which are either ascending- or descending-bid auctions; an electromagnetic spectrum incentive auction design capable of supporting such auctions under Commission rules; and auction features described in Auctions of Upper Microwave Flexible Use Licenses for Next-Generation Wireless Services Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other Procedures for Auctions 101 (28 GHz) and 102 (24 GHz) Bidding in Auction 101 Scheduled to Begin November 14, 2018; AU Docket No. 18-85; FCC 18-109 (rel. Aug. 3, 2018), including intra-round bidding and excess supply. The source would also need to be capable of providing these services using a FedRAMP facility, meeting all government security requirements (including FISMA ATO), and be ready by April 4, 2019. Extensive documented experience supporting and running electromagnetic spectrum auctions is required, and documented experience with the FCC's auction bidding system is highly desirable. The requirement includes related application and hosting services, as well as non-personal professional services to support the auction bidding service. This sources sought notice is for planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to pay for information requested or received, issue a solicitation, or award a contract.