The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Office of Chief Information Officer (OCIO) requires metro link service between the NTSB Headquarter (HQ) and an Equinix data center located in Ashburn, VA. In FY17, NTSB awarded a contract for services to deploy the Wide Area Network (WAN) 2.0 which consists of three (3) access hubs located in Equinix data centers in Ashburn, VA, Seattle, WA and Dallas, TX. The hubs inter-connect to one another through private 1G metro links to provide redundancy. The WAN forms a network transport providing connections to NTSB facilities in DC (Headquarters (HQ)), Ashburn, VA (Training Center), Anchorage, AK, Seattle, WA, and Denver, CO. From each of the access hubs, there are three (3) primary external interfaces that provide connections to Internet service providers, cloud providers, and network service providers. The Internet interface provides a direct connection to Internet service providers that allows remote access to mobile users and connection to branch offices. The Cloud service interface, through a private access, provides a direct connection to all cloud providers. The Network service interface provides a highly reliable network connection between the hubs. At the Ashburn, VA access hub, there is an additional metro link to connect the NTSB HQ to the WAN that was established with Verizon under the FY17 contract. The WAN deployment consists of three services: Hosting service by Equinix (separate contract) Inter-hub metro-link and Internet connection services (separate contract) HQ to Ashburn, VA hub metro-link service In order to satisfy this requirement, the NTSB intends to issue a sole source solicitation to Verizon for the continued provision of the metro-link service. This procurement is being conducted in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) – Soliciting from a single source. The NAICS code for this procurement is 517311, Wired Telecommunication Carriers and the Small Business Administration Size Standard is 1500 employees. Verizon was contracted to establish the current metro-link service by the NTSB’s contractor under the NTSB’s FY17 contract. The NTSB requires continued metro-link service under a direct contractual arrangement between Verizon and the NTSB. In order to maintain the connection, and thereby the WAN network, it is essential that Verizon’s metro-link services continue without disruption. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be accepted. However, any firm that believes it can meet the requirements may give written notification to the Contracting Officer within 10 calendar days from the date of publication of this synopsis. Supporting evidence must be furnished in sufficient detail to demonstrate an established metro-link connection between the NTSB HQ and the Ashburn, VA Equinix data center. Information, not to exceed five (5) pages, can be sent via e-mail to Peter M. Hazlinsky, at
[email protected] . Responses received will be evaluated; though, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. If no responses are received, the NTSB will proceed with the issuance of a sole source solicitation for this requirement to Verizon.