FM Broadcat Operations and Maintenance Support in Morocco

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI Notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB) or a promise to issue an RFP or formal acquisition in the future. This RFI does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever or to award a contract on the basis of this RFI. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. All who respond to this RFI are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information, inquiries, the U.S. Government's use of such information, or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the Interested Party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future procurement if any is released. Based on the response to this RFI, a determination to compete or not to compete a future procurement is solely within the discretion of the U.S. Government. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this RFI or a future solicitation. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS The BBG is conducting market research to ascertain whether there are Contractors available who have the capability of operating and maintaining the BBG's Frequency Modulation (FM) broadcast network in the following cities located in Morocco: Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech, Meknes, Rabat and Tangier. The Contractor will be responsible for its own security and transportation to and from the FM broadcast locations. The BBG anticipates that the Contractor must have the capability to communicate in Arabic, English and French; conduct site surveys; lease facilities for FM broadcast; obtain licenses to broadcast; maintain Government Furnished Property (GFP); monitor FM performance (i.e., uplinks and downlinks to satellites, transmitter outages, verify signal quality, etc.); and furnish documentation and drawings. The Contractor should have experience in transmitter power output levels of 1 kilowatt (kW) or above, remote operations, audio distribution, system monitoring and control, air conditioning (AC) mains and generator distribution and control, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, very small aperture terminal (VSAT), satellite communications systems, board and component level repair, calibration and adjustment, test equipment usage, and shipping and customs. Additionally, Contractors must have demonstrated experience in antenna design, coverage predictions and test and measurement. At each location, it is anticipated that the Contractor will be responsible for: (1) Providing personnel for preventive and corrective maintenance of broadcast equipment, program feed equipment, air conditioning equipment, and power generating equipment. (2) Payment of electricity and any other utility charges. (3) Supply of fuel and lube oil for generators. (4) Facility leases, annual frequency and licensing fees. (5) Security of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). (6) Provide consumables; i.e., air filters, lubricants, cleaning supplies and other items necessary to the operation and maintenance of the Government FM Broadcast Site. (7) Maintain and service air conditioning units, generators, antennas and towers required for operation and maintenance at each Government FM Broadcast Site. (8) Major spare parts and assemblies for the broadcast equipment and program feed equipment will be provided by the BBG. (9) The Contractor will be responsible for conducting preventive, recurring, and corrective maintenance and in the event of a transmission outage, perform corrective action. All other services and supplies required to maintain the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Government FM Broadcast Sites as fully operational will be provided by the Contractor, except Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and or special repair items authorized by the Contracting Officer or his designee. TECHNICAL MONITORING Technical Monitoring is the process of monitoring during broadcasting, operational performance of the FM Broadcast Networks and management of any issues that arise. The Contractor must have sufficient technical staff with training and experience to monitor the technical operations of the broadcast transmitters at the various sites and ensure proper operation and compliance with all local, national, and international technical regulations and best industry practices. The contractor will, without oversight, conduct periodic equipment and system tests, verify optimum performance, troubleshoot, install and replace equipment or components as necessary, and perform preventative routine maintenance as required to maintain 24-hour daily broadcast at the rated licensed power. At a minimum, the Contractor will be responsible for the routine technical monitoring of the following transmitter operational parameters: 1.) Monitor satellite signal level 2.) Forward Power Level and Reflected Power Level of the transmitter 3.) VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Radio) 4.) Any transmitter fault, fold-back or other indications of abnormal transmitter 5.) Primary Mains Voltage, Critical Transmitter Voltage/Current Reading 6.) Status of Ancillary/Support Equipment 7.) Temperature of the room; and 8.) Total modulation and modulation of main, stereo subcarrier, pilot, RDS, and any other associated subcarriers At times, the contractor may be required to measure and monitor other parameters including, but not limited to, audio response, RF filter or combiner insertion loss, bandwidth, and group delay, RF spurious emissions, intermodulation distortion products, synchronous and asynchronous AM noise and other parameters that may adversely affect the performance of the station. CONTRACTOR RESPONSES Responses shall be in Microsoft Word format. Page count should be limited to 50 pages (excluding the cover page) in length. Font size and type shall be 12 point, Times New Roman. Cover page shall display: 1. Company name; 2. Primary and secondary points of contact; 3. Telephone number, address, city, state, and country; 4. Business or organization size (e.g. small, large, etc.) and ownership; and (if applicable) 5. Federal Supply Service and/or Service Schedule Information. The capabilities statement must include, at a minimum, the following: EXAMPLES OF CAPABILITIES: 1) Evidence of specific examples of the Interested Party's successful past performance, with a minimum of three (3) years of experience in providing operation and maintenance of broadcasts networks in Northern Africa and the Sub-Sahara region; 2) TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE: 1) Clearly describe the ability to provide the foregoing O&M services, including, but not limited to providing the approximate size of company's operations staff, and location of any offices worldwide; 2) REFERENCES: provide three (3) current or former clients, including the name and title, current address, city, state, country, email and telephone number of the customer point of contact; Interested Parties should be prepared to describe how O&M services will be provided to the locations listed in the PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS section above and any new locations put in service throughout the term of the contract. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To assist the BBG, please segregate proprietary information. Responses to this RFI should be submitted via e-mail to the attention of Jacqueline Gray, Contract Specialist at [email protected] by 4:30 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 2, 2016. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. Telephone, facsimile, or oral responses will not be accepted and will not be considered. Questions regarding this RFI should be submitted in writing to the attention of Jacqueline Gray, Contract Specialist, via e-mail to [email protected] not later than 4:30 pm Eastern Standard Time on November 25, 2016. Verbal questions will NOT be permitted. Questions shall not contain proprietary or classified information. Interested Parties who respond to this Notice will be notified if their written Capabilities Statement, as verified by BBG, is responsive to this Notice. If it is determined by BBG to be in the best interest of the Government, interested and qualified sources responding to this Notice may be requested to provide follow-up information. A determination to compete, or not to compete, in a future procurement will be based on the responses to this RFI notice, and is solely within the discretion of the Government. This Notice is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation to Bid (IFB), or Request for Quotation (RFQ).