Request for Proposal

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Jan 23, 2017 - Responses should include the NPA-NXXs to which services can be .... CPE/Colocation of Provider Equipment:
Request for Proposal Access Circuit Services 23 January 2017 Summary KanREN seeks pricing and technical detail proposals for network transport services for the purpose of connecting existing and future members to our existing backbone infrastructure. KanREN’s desires a standard pricing table for access to specific NPA-NXX.

Process, Formats, and Important Dates Respondents should indicate their intent to respond no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) CST on Friday, February 10, 2017 via email to [email protected]. All clarifying questions should also be submitted to KanREN, in writing, by this date/time. All questions should be submitted via email to [email protected]. Questions will be answered via online video/audio conference on Monday, February 13, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. CST. Details will be provided to all respondents who indicate intent to respond. All questions submitted will be answered in one session. Questions with similar subject matter may be summarized during the conference call. Proposals must be returned to KanREN, physically or electronically by 12:00 p.m. (noon) CST on Monday, February 27, 2017. Proposals received after this date may be rejected. Proposals must contain the signature of a duly authorized officer or agent of the respondent. Respondents are permitted to submit solutions that deviate from the descriptions in this RFP. Solutions that do not meet specified criteria may be accepted, but may also be penalized during review. Creativity is encouraged. Responses should include the NPA-NXXs to which services can be delivered, as well as costs listed on a per NPA-NXX basis. Please note any non-conforming NPA-NXX entries. KanREN would ideally prefer inclusion of a machine readable file, such as .csv, .xlsx, etc. where the data can be easily be sorted and compiled based on NPA-NXX. One possible example follows: NPA

NXX

1Gbps MRC

10Gbps MRC

Special Construction

785

123

$1,300

$2,500

No

785

234

$1,175

$2,225

At some addresses

Respondents are encouraged to add columns or use formatting that best describes their responses, but must contain NPA, NXX, 1Gbps and 10Gbps costs in an easily sortable format. All communication regarding this RFP, including intent to respond, questions, and submissions (if done electronically) should be submitted by electronic mail to [email protected]. Respondents who choose to submit physical responses should ensure they are delivered via certified mail to the following address by the deadline date and time: KanREN, Inc. 2029 Becker Drive, Suite 282 Lawrence, KS 66047 KanREN will hold all documents marked “proprietary and confidential” as such, and will not be shared or made public before or after award unless otherwise required by law, or by mutual consent.

Contract Terms Detailed contract terms will be negotiated upon selection of provider(s). Contracts are subject to review of KanREN legal counsel. KanREN will award based on geographic territories served by providers. Coverage areas should be listed by NPA-NXX if at all possible. KanREN reserves the right to withhold awarding a winner for some service areas if no carriers can meet acceptable terms for the area in question. It is KanREN’s intention to issue the minimum number of awards necessary, but will award as many as necessary to achieve our goals (see selection criteria). KanREN requests initial contract terms for individual transport services be based on 60 months, but must terminate on June 30 which will require the exact term be somewhat flexible​. ​For example, if service starts in September of 2017, the agreement will terminate on June 30, 2022, making the actual contract term 58 months. All initial term contracts must include (at KanREN’s option) up to 3 additional 1 year extensions for each transport service. Pricing proposed must be guaranteed not to increase before June 30, 2019 for all new contracts signed under any award from this RFP. KanREN requests that the pricing provided be made available directly to KanREN in addition to any KanREN member. In some cases, it may be more advantageous for KanREN members to directly hold the transport service contract rather than KanREN. Respondents should indicate if their pricing is good for KanREN alone, KanREN members, or if limitations exist regarding the including of KanREN members to directly procure from awards.

Taxes, Fees and Surcharges Proposed pricing should be all inclusive; including current taxes, fees and surcharges levied against the services provided. Any taxes fees and surcharges that cannot be determined should be estimated and include the rationale used for estimation. Respondents should consider that, of the traffic transmitted on the access circuits, more than 10% is interstate traffic. Successful respondents will include a method by which changes in taxes, fees and surcharges will be communicated to KanREN, including the reason for the change, at least 60 days before the first billing cycle on which changes will appear, unless unable to by law. Only fees and surcharges that providers are required by law to remit may be subject to change. Fees that providers are “allowed” to charge and retain for their own purposes must remain fixed for the contract duration.

Budget As this proposal is for potential and existing locations, KanREN cannot declare a project budget. KanREN may also select more than one respondent based on respondents’ abilities to serve different geographic areas within the state. KanREN has analyzed data available via the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for programs funded by the Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF). Respondents’ proposals should adhere to the USAC/E-rate Lowest Corresponding Price ruling, as services procured through this process may include funding through FUSF-based programs. KanREN’s target price for individual services is listed in the service description section, and should include current taxes, fees and surcharges as of the date of the pricing response. Construction, equipment, or any other one-time costs to provision the initial service should not be included in the pricing responses. These should be determined for each individual service purchased, and will be paid up-front. One-time costs should not be considered in the provider response for recurring cost targets, however when applicable they should be detailed, with typical or known costs included for context (ie. the MRC pricing targets are exclusive of all one-time fees, but you should include one-time fees that you know of, and/or provide typical fees for comparison).

Description of Services Services: Ethernet-based transport services connecting endpoints within the respondent’s reach to one of the KanREN backbone node locations listed in Appendix A. Services should include, at a minimum: 1Gbps Ethernet-based transport service maximum MRC of $1,500 10Gbps Ethernet-based transport service maximum MRC of $2,500 KanREN may accept any proposed solution compliant with MEF 2.0, but prefers EVPL, EVP-Tree, or EVP-LAN delivery to one or more UNI connections at KanREN backbone locations (see Appendix A). KanREN expects that EVPL, EVP-Tree, or EVP-LAN UNI connections may be oversubscribed at up to 2:1 (e.g. up to 20 1Gbps endpoints may be connected to a backbone location with a single 10Gbps Ethernet handoff). Creativity is encouraged in responses. Respondents are encouraged to offer services that achieve similar results but differ in implementation if necessary. Multiple carriers are encouraged to partner in providing responses, though KanREN expects to contract with a single business entity. Responsibility for operation and maintenance of each EVC will fall to the contracted carrier. Simply put, multiple carriers are encouraged to work together, however, KanREN will not engage in multiple contract or provider support arrangements for a single

transport service (EVC) and the contracted carrier should expect to provide end-to-end support from the KanREN backbone to the remote end location. Proposals that include EVPL, EVP-Tree, or EVP-LAN should include the UNI at the KanREN backbone without separate charges to KanREN. Simply put KanREN seeks a solution that does not include shared costs which KanREN must cost-allocated to members.

Preferred Service Configuration: Wichita State University, Wichita, KS and 1102 Grand, Kansas City, MO (as listed in Appendix A) provide KanREN’s preferred UNI termination points to the KanREN backbone (A end). If a respondent can provide an auxiliary UNI (for redundancy) while still meeting pricing targets from the “Services” section above, their proposal will receive preferential consideration during KanREN’s award process. Redundant UNI connections may be of less bandwidth and/or a higher subscription rate; however these details must be outlined and limitations explained.

Service Details/Performance: Service Performance: Transport services should be consistent with MEF 2.0 standards for the service types used. Respondents should include SLAs for uptime, latency, loss, jitter, etc. as applicable.

Requested Handoffs: The following table outlines KanREN’s Preferred and Acceptable Alternative physical service handoffs for given situations. Some locations may dictate the use of one technology over others; for example cross-connects at 1102 Grand, KC, MO are often 1310nm via SMF. KanREN understands situational needs and alternatives can be explored at the respondent’s request. Location

Speed

Preferred

Acceptable Alternative(s)

Z end (KanREN member location)

1Gbps

1000Base-T (copper)

1000Base-SR

Z end (KanREN member location)

Greater than 1Gbps but less than 10Gbps

10Gbase-SR (850nm optical)

Nx1000Base-T LAG, 10Gbase-LR (1310nm optical)

Z end (KanREN member location)

10Gbps

10Gbase-SR (850nm optical)

10GBase-LR (1310nm optical)

A end (KanREN Backbone location)

1Gbps

1000Base-SR (850nm optical)

1000Base-LR (1310nm optical), 1000Base-T (copper)

A end (KanREN Backbone location)

10Gbps

10GBase-SR (850nm optical)

10Gbase-LR (1310nm optical)

VLAN and Ethertype Handling KanREN expects all UNI ports will support single and dual tagged frames from KanREN equipment. Each Z end (KanREN member location) should be assigned a S-Tag by the carrier which KanREN will present as the outer VLAN tag on all traffic transmitted to the carrier’s network. KanREN expects that the S-Tag TPID Ethertype will be 0x88a8 (preferred) or 0x8100. Internal, C-Tags and associated TPID Eithertype should support all possible values. See included diagram below. In this example VLAN 2600 was assigned by the carrier for transport through the carrier’s network. The example depicts TPID 0x88a8 on the S-Tag; however, KanREN can support 0x8100 as well.

Maintenance Activities/Outages: Respondents should include explanations of their maintenance policies and schedules regarding standing and emergency events.

CPE/Colocation of Provider Equipment: KanREN and its member institutions will allow contracting providers to install equipment necessary to terminate services contracted to KanREN. Equipment in excess of these needs may be installed if approved by KanREN and by applicable member(s), separately from any agreements arising from this RFP. Provider equipment installed at 1102 Grand or 1100 Walnut (see Appendix A) may not be in KanREN leased space. KanREN expects cross-connects to reach carrier equipment within these facilities.

On-Premise Construction: Respondents who do not already have necessary facilities will need to perform construction at the KanREN member to be served (possibly at the backbone end as well). KanREN can facilitate the necessary communication with the appropriate personnel, however, arrangements and requirements for such construction at the KanREN member locations must be agreed to by the provider and KanREN member(s).

Award Timeline: KanREN intends to select one provider to award services within any given geographic area. KanREN will announce awards and associated service areas no later than March 17, 2017.

Confidentiality: Responses will not be made public, or shared unless required by law. Awards, service areas and associated prices will be made public upon award unless otherwise specified by the awardee and not precluded by law. However, when individual services are contracted price and provider for each service may become public information due to involved federal and state funding program rules, or the type of KanREN member (i.e. public institution). KanREN may supply generalized pricing information (i.e. information

that does not link carrier, NPA-NXX and price directly) to state and federal agencies or other national education broadband advocacy organizations.

Selection Criteria: Selection will be based upon the following criteria, in order of importance. Care should be taken to address any of these criteria not outlined elsewhere in this RFP: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Ability to meet or exceed KanREN’s price targets. Ability to deliver services at preferred locations. Respondent’s performance metrics (SLA terms) for the services offered. Adherence to KanREN’s requested service descriptions. Provider reputation amongst the KanREN community. Ability to provide remedies and/or resolve disputes within the jurisdiction of the state of Kansas. Ability to offer multiple UNI connections at the KanREN backbone, within price targets (redundancy).

Required Documents for Submission Respondents should include in proposal packets: ● Proposal/Response documents ● Accompanying maps and diagrams ● Support procedures, including escalation path ● Estimated rack/wall/floor space, power or other mechanical requirements at member locations ● Estimated rack space, power and cooling requirements for backbone termination locations ● SLA terms proposed ● Price schedules (including taxes, fees & surcharges) KanREN strongly recommends respondents also provide: ● References from recent customers purchasing similar services ● Documentation supporting the financial standing of the company (such as an annual report, etc.) ● DUNS number, FEIN and a current credit reference ● Sample billing statements and contract documents ● Adherence to USAC related pricing for comparable services

Appendix A: Service Locations: Preferred Locations: 1102 Grand 1102 Grand Avenue 6th Floor Managed Meet-Me Room (MMR) Kansas City Missouri Wichita State University​: Jabara Hall, 3rd floor 1845 Fairmount Wichita, KS 67260 37.719296, -97.293435

Other Acceptable Locations: Level(3) Communications: 5th Floor Customer Co-location 1100 Walnut Kansas City, Missouri Fort Hays State University: Akers Energy Center 411 Lyman Dr. Hays, KS 67601 38.871038, -99.343674 Emporia State University: Cremer Hall Datacenter 1428 Merchant St. Emporia, KS 66801 38.415882, -96.181205 Pittsburg State University​ (2 locations)​: Leonard H Axe Library 1605 S. Joplin Pittsburg, KS 66762 37.392413, -94.700104 Kelce Center Datacenter (Preferred) E. Cleveland Ave Pittsburg, KS 66762 37.392729, -94.704073

Washburn University: Bennett Computer Center SW18th St Topeka, KS 66621 39.035737, -95.699585

Kansas State University ​(2 locations)​: Power Plant 1200-1206 N. 17th Street Manhattan, KS 66506 39.190708, -96.582834 Hale Library 2323 Anderson Avenue Manhattan, KS 66506 39.190522, -96.580575

University of Kansas ​(2 locations)​: Price Computing Center 1001 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence, KS 66045 38.955291,-95.2534349 Ellsworth Annex Wiring Center 1734 Engel Road Lawrence, KS 66045 38.952772, -95.259322

University of Kansas Medical Center (not located on/adjacent a public street): Wahl Annex 3901 Rainbow Blvd. Kansas City, KS 66160 39.056546, -94.609994