Commercial Television and Broadband Internet Services

The Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG), in conjunction with its customer, Office of Telecommunications and Systems Operations (OTSO)/Office of Infrastructure Architecture and Configuration (OIAC)/Division of Integrated Telecommunication Management (DITM), is currently performing market research to determine the availability of sources to provide Community Antenna Television (CATV) and a high-speed internet solution for the headquarters campus. SSA's CATV port distribution system supports local and national network broadcasts throughout headquarters (HQ) and outlying campus buildings. We are looking for sources capable of providing and supporting business information channel lineups for a minimum of 500 ports. Currently, 615 television ports are utilized across HQ campus buildings. The drawing below identifies the Woodlawn HQ campus layout, including outlying buildings. Our current service provider delivers digital signaling distributed over the CATV network via analog radio frequencies. Television requirements support SSA's executives, senior staff, senior management staff and technical support staff, as well as selected knowledge worker positions requiring real time news and communication. These features allow SSA staff to stay informed during events, weather situations, and emergencies. DITM manages all of the real-time television requirements including news and events that affect SSA. Our current lineup includes ABC, CBS CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News CSPAN 1, CSPAN 2, CSPAN 3, FOX, FOX News, Fox Business News, MPT MSNBC, NBC, PBS, and The Weather Channel. DITM also supports additional buildings at 6001 Wabash Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21215; 8999 Bennett Creek Blvd., Urbana, MD 21704; and 2450 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 105, Morrisville, NC, 27560. The agency currently procures services from cable and satellite providers to provide services to these locations. The CATV network is also an alternate delivery method for Interactive Video Tele-training (IVT) broadcasts, which provides educational and training content to SSA HQ's components. We currently broadcast seven channels from three local studios and four regional studios. The agency supports a distribution system to insert agency programs that are broadcasted via the CATV network. HQTV is an informational news channel broadcasted to HQ's components through the agency's distribution system and rebroadcasted via the CATV network. Current ongoing support for the CATV system is required during the principle period of maintenance from 6:00 am through 6:00 pm, local EST, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. The agency considers response time of 24 hours for emergencies and 48 hours for non-emergencies. An emergency is defined as campus wide interference, static, or off the air or more than 25 ports out of service at any one time. Cabling is currently installed, maintained, and supported by agency contractors. An existing contract provides a vehicle to install, relocate, and deinstall cabling in all of the locations, including fiber between campus buildings, including Supply, Utility, Salt Dome and Child Care Center. Outlying buildings, Oak Meadows, Meadows East, and Woodlawn Office Complex, are connected via wireless microwave radios. In addition, high-speed internet services are required in three locations at a minimum bandwidth speed of 3Mbps upload and 16 Mbps download. Static IP addresses are also required. All three testing labs are part of the HQ campus; two located at the NCC; and one located in our Robert M Ball (Operations) Bldg. There are 23 additional high-speed broadband internet connections throughout the HQ campus buildings as separate accounts for additional components, vendors, etc. We request information from businesses that believe they have a bona-fide capability to meet the agency's requirements. Specifically, interested firms should submit responses for all of the following information: I.Content Delivery a. What channel lineups do you offer? b. Can SSA customize what endpoints receive certain channels? c. Is there any programming that requires mandatory delivery to all users? d. How can SSA "substitute" channels for emergency broadcasts? e. Can you provide SSA a range of channels for customized video content insertion? i. Does your company provide insertion equipment? II.Equipment and Installation a. What technology platforms are used to provide the above services? b. What infrastructure upgrades would you propose to our current set up and how long would the total upgrade take for the following technologies:? i. High Definition ii. Digital c. What is required within the endpoints (TVs, set top boxes) to accommodate the above services (Codecs, Modulation, types of cabling, etc.)? III. Campus Expansion a. Do you provide services to "expanded buildings?" (6001 Wabash Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215;8999 Bennett Creek Blvd., Urbana, MD 21704; 2450 Perimeter Park Drive, Suite 105, Morrisville, NC, 27560; IV. Future Technologies a. Do you support Internet Protocol Television? b. What are the limitations for redistribution over our network (Campus, Nationwide)? V. Service and Maintenance a. Do you provide help desk capabilities? b. Do you offer 24x7 repair service? c. How do you perform preventative maintenance? d. Do you provide key personnel on-site such as engineers, etc.? e. What is the minimum equipment repair time your company offers? (i.e. example: two-business day repair)? f. Are your repair times based on tiers such as repair for one user, one building, and enterprise? VI. Internet Connections a. How are Internet connections supported and/or affected within the upgrades for High Definition and Digital? b. What is the maximum number of users these upgrades can support? VII. Availability of Services through Existing Contracts a. Are your services offered through any current Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC)? b. If so, what is the GWAC Vehicle and the Contract Number? c. Are you a small business? d. SSA is anticipating using North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) 515210 Television Services. Please recommend additional NAICS codes that may be suitable for commercial television and broadband internet services? VIII. Miscellaneous a. Can you provide a Rough Order of Magnitude for the above upgrades (Assume that conduit is provided for you to install fiber or other cabling)? b. How would you suggest pricing be setup within our future requirement? Should we require a "bundled solution" price for the whole upgrade, or a more itemized approach based on building and port counts? c. What other additional services would you suggest to offer? d. How would you accommodate continuity of operations to other regions i.e. Urbana, MD and Durham, NC? This is not a request for proposal, and the Government does not intend to pay for the information solicited or received. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation of the source data received. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not be honored or acknowledged. No solicitation is being issued at this time. Any interested organizations must submit responses electronically to Michele Tubman at [email protected] no later than 3:00pm on April 25, 2014. Please include in the subject header of the email this statement "SSA-RFI-14-1026 Response from (your company's name)" when sending your responses. Note that SSA email has a size limit of 5 Megabytes.