Facilitation of Establishment of Internet Exchange Points in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya

SPECIAL NOTICE The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has determined, based on technical evaluation and determination of cost realism, that an unsolicited proposal entitled Facilitation of Establishment of Internet Exchange Points in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya has technical merit; is available to the Government without restriction from another source; does not closely resemble a pending competitive acquisition requirement; relates to USTDA's mission; and demonstrates an innovative and unique approach. Specifically, the offeror proposes to organize and aid the formation of Internet exchange points (IXPs) in Tripoli and Benghazi in order to reduce the cost and increase the performance and reliability of Internet access in Libya, and create nuclei for the formation of a domestic private-sector communications industry. This effort will proceed independently in the two cities and will engage representatives of the government, of the six current public-sector telecommunication operating companies, and of interested private-sector entrepreneurs. The goal of the project is to organize and train domestic constituents to build and support long-term sustainable IXPs, following the international best practices visible in the roughly 350 Internet exchange points that already exist in other countries, and encourage use of the IXPS by private-sector entrepreneurs seeking to establish Internet-dependent business such as Internet service providers, datacenters and collocation providers, hosted and cloud services companies, and Internet content publishing. The effort is anticipated to cost $80,000 and take four to six months to complete. In addition, the offeror proposes to provide the necessary initial equipment to establish the IXPs.