PRDE FY2012 E-RATE CONTRACT AWARDS
The Puerto Rico Department of Education Evaluation Committee met and voted yesterday to award FY2012 E-Rate contracts
as follows:
RFP SF (OC) 2011-008 (Telecommunications, Internet and Basic Maintenance)
Telecommunications Services are awarded to the Puerto Rico Telephone Company
Internet Access Services are awarded to the Puerto Rico Telephone Company
Basic Maintenance Services are awarded to Truenorth Corporation
Basic Maintenance (Software Only) Services are awarded to Microsoft Caribbean, Inc.
RFP SF (OC) 2011-017 (Internal Connections)
Internal Connections Services are awarded to IBM Corporation
Internal Connections (Software Only) Services are awarded to Microsoft Caribbean, Inc.
Formal letters of award will be issued in accordance with Regulation 7040.
The Department of Education appreciates the time and effort of all of the vendors participating in this year's
competitive bidding process and offering their services to the Puerto Rico public school system.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CONTRACT
The Department intends to execute contracts with selected service providers for the Department's FY2012 E-Rate Funding Year, notwithstanding the fact that applications for review may be filed by one or more vendors in connection therewith pursuant to Law 149 of July 15, 1999, also known as "Ley Orgánica del Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico" and Regulation Number 7040, October 5, 2005, as amended.
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RFP 2011-008 CLARIFICATION RE: TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS
The chart set forth in Section 6.1 of RFP SF (OC) 2011-008 was not intended to represent only Priority 1 telecommunications services being requested by the Department, but rather, the information was intended to notify interested vendors of all of the basic phone services and support being requested by the PRDE. The VoIP phone system maintenance was included in Section 6.1 to ensure that telecommunications companies include maintenance pricing for vendor-owned on-premise equipment in their proposals (Priority 1), as well as maintenance for eligible phone systems owned by the Department (Priority 2), if they be interested in supporting both.
The VoIP phone system maintenance was also specifically included in Section 8 (Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections) of the RFP and the Basic Maintenance Form 470 posted on the USAC website, because VoIP phone maintenance is a Priority 2 service that can be provided by non-telecommunications companies.
Vendors should not view the locations of the phone service descriptions as specific E-Rate eligibility determinations, but should view the information in the RFP as the scope of telecommunications services requested (Priority 1 and Priority 2) for purposes of preparing their proposals.
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RE: SOFTWARE LICENSES AND SUPPORT
IMPORTANT NOTICE
1. Microsoft Agreement. The Puerto Rico Department of Education has a direct contract to purchase software support and licenses from Microsoft. Vendors proposing equipment that requires Microsoft software, and vendors proposing basic maintenance for systems using Microsoft software, may include pricing for such software and support in their proposals, but are not required to do so. The Department reserves the right to purchase the annual support and/or new licenses directly from Microsoft based on pricing quoted by Microsoft for the FY2012 applications pursuant to the existing contract, in the event the Department determines said charges to be the most cost-effective pricing for such items.
2. Software Proposals. Any vendors submitting proposals ONLY for software licenses and/or annual software support are required (a) to submit their pricing proposals by the following proposal deadlines: March 1, 2012 for RFP SF (OC) 2011-008 (Telecommunications, Internet Access and Basic Maintenance), and March 9, 2012 for RFP SF (OC) 2011-017 (Internal Connections), and (b) to comply with the E-Rate and pertinent contract terms of the applicable RFP(s). All other submittal requirements for FY2012 RFP proposals are waived for software-only proposals; this is a very limited waiver and applies only in the specific instance described herein.
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS SF (OC) 2011-017 ERATE 2012:
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The vendor Letter of Intent Due Date for RFP NO: SF (OC) 2011-017 is March 2, 2012. Although Exhibit D: Minimum Proposal Submittal Requirements of said RFP states "the vendor Letter of Intent (Exhibit A) must be submitted to the PRDE E-Rate Director no later than March 9, 2012 in order for the vendor's proposal to be considered", vendors should refer to RFP NO: SF (OC) 2011-017 cover page, RFP Table 1 on page 2, Section 1.2.4 Letter of Intent referring to Table 1, and Exhibit A: Sample Letter of Intent to Propose which state the correct Letter of Intent Due Date as March 2, 2012.