Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Procurement, requirements of wireless net outlined

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 16:29:05 -0400

08/04/04

Procurement, requirements of wireless net outlined

By William Jackson
GCN Staff

The departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury hope to issue
an initial request for proposals for an Integrated Wireless Network late
this month and to select vendors for a design competition by next May.

The design competition will be the final phase in the procurement of the
multi-billion dollar communications system for federal law enforcement
officers. IWN would replace legacy analog systems with an urgently
needed interoperable digital network.

“The departments operate a wide variety of communications systems for
their law enforcement and protective personnel,” the IWN Joint Program
Office said in a request for comments on its acquisition plans. “These
legacy systems have been plagued with problems in recent years.”

Problems include antiquated technology, inadequate coverage, lack of
capacity and crowded radio spectrum.

Comments on the draft statement of objectives, acquisition strategy and
the criteria for selection of bidders should be offered by noon, Aug. 9
by e-mail to [email-masked].

IWN would be a common radio network capable of handling voice, data and
multimedia for all federal law enforcement, first-response and homeland
security agencies. The statement of objectives does not specify the
technology to be used.

“We want to state our requirements, and we want industry to propose
solutions,” said Michael Duffy, deputy CIO for electronic government at
Justice, the lead department.

The network currently is envisioned as a very high frequency, trunked
system using the Project 25 standard for interoperable digital radio
with an IP backbone. It will use the Advanced Encryption Standard.

The network is to serve more than 80,000 law enforcement users in the
three sponsoring departments. Those departments include the bulk of
federal law enforcement personnel, but IWN would be available to all
federal law enforcement officers, including inspectors general. It is
estimated that the program will require about 2,500 sites to provide
coverage for major metro areas and highways, borders and ports of entry.

A single company will be tapped to plan, design, build, deploy, operate
and maintain the network. The cost of the program is capped at $10
billion over 10 years. A 2002 engineering study estimated the cost of
implementing the system at $3 billion, a figure that since has been
whittled down to $2.6 billion. But current DHS, Justice and Treasury
budgets support only half that much.

“The IWN Program will be subject to irregular and/or incremental funding
over the life of the IWN contract and will be dependent on the
government’s budget cycles,” the request for comments warns. “Offerors’
solutions must be flexible to accommodate the contemporary budgetary
environment.”

In the initial phase of the selection process, prospective vendors will
be judged on past performance, experience and capabilities, and on the
feasibility of the concept presented. Each must supply at least three
government or commercial references.

Survivors of the first round of eliminations will be invited to submit
proposals for a government-funded design competition for the first
service area. The winner of the competition will receive the IWN
contract.

The proposed acquisition schedule, which is subject to change, is:

The Phase 1 request for proposals would run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 21. A
comment period on the Phase 2 draft RFP would run from Oct. 1 through
Oct. 24. The Phase 2 RFP would run from Nov. 16 to Jan. 28. Contracts
for participation in the design competition would be awarded May 5,
2005.

The actual dates of the competition and subsequent selection of a vendor
have not been determined.
http://gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26831-1.html

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