INTENT TO AWARD TO SINGLE SOURCE - ASTOUND/WAVE

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service, Management and Budget Acquisition Office, on behalf of Northwest Fisheries Science Center(NWFSC), intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), to Astound Business, to procure the following:

This service contract will provide the continuity of service for Astound broadband high-speed internet in Manchester. The provider will be solely responsible for the provision, operation, and maintenance of all provider’s equipment (including, but not limited to, fiber optic cable from the provider’s network facility to Manchester Research Station (7305 Beach Dr. East Port Orchard, Washington) and fiber optic converter.

Contractor will provide a 99.999% SLA internet service with fiber optic network connection from a local Internet Service Provider with a minimum of dedicated symmetric bandwidth of 1Gb/s (1Gb/s Upload and 1Gb/s Download) connection speed. NWFSC has been using internet services from Astound Broadband/WAVE Broadband for the Manchester Research Station over the past 5 years.

Due to the research station’s location, Astound Broadband is the sole local internet service provider with a dedicated fiber optic network in the area. Consequently, no other ISP vendor can offer similar services without significant construction to establish their own fiber optic network.

Furthermore, with the increasing demand for data transfer and the adoption of cloud technologies at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Manchester Research Station, the current internet bandwidth of 100 Mbps is no longer sufficient for day-to-day operations. Upgrading to a 1 Gbps internet bandwidth is necessary to meet our network requirements. The period of performance will be from November 14, 2024, through November 13, 2025, with four additional option years.

The sole source determination is based on NOAA’s requirement that Astound Broadband/WAVE Broadband be the only vendor providing this service.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can fully meet the government's requirements may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact within 15 days after publication of this synopsis. Such documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.