Network Connectivity Fiber Network Backbone

Background
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is seeking to enhance its fiber network backbone. This initiative aims to establish a unified infrastructure across multiple campuses, including Frederick, Rockville/Shady Grove, and Bethesda. The goal is to ensure continuous, secure, and future-ready connectivity for NCI research and mission operations.

Work Details
The Contractor will provide a managed optical network service that includes:

- 24/7 operations and monitoring;
- capacity engineering;
- path diversity and resilience;
- cloud connectivity (AWS Direct Connect and GCP Interconnect);
- security and compliance measures;
- documentation and training;
- testing and validation.

Specific tasks include:

- delivering a Program Management Plan within 30 days post-award;
- provisioning the fiber plant;
- managing equipment lifecycle;
- ensuring domestic service delivery from U.S.-based facilities;
- maintaining sufficient qualified staffing in the U.S.;
- adhering to access and data handling protocols;
- meeting defined service levels for incident response;
- conducting capacity management and enhancements;
- implementing end-to-end encryption for security compliance;
- operating cloud interconnects with redundancy;
- maintaining documentation, training, and knowledge transfer processes;
- conducting testing and failover exercises; and
- providing regular reporting on operations.

Period of Performance
The contract will be performed over multiple periods, including a base period followed by option periods as specified in the solicitation.

Place of Performance
Washington DC 20240

Bidder Requirements
Bidders must be U.S.-based entities with qualified personnel located within the United States. They must ensure that all subcontractors are also U.S.-based. Bidders should confirm their ability to meet the requirements outlined in the RFI, disclose any authorized reseller status or subcontractors involved, and indicate any established GWACs or GSA schedules relevant to this acquisition.