Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with
Peru/Colombia/Panama
Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited
to bid
Attachment: None
Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Government Objectives
Representing Best Interests/Value to Govt
Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No
Vendor Name and Address:
SamKnows Ltd.
94 New Bond Street
United Kingdom
W1S 1SJ
Nature of Requirements:
Broadband Speed Monitoring Hardware File: 82082-15-0011
Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
Benoit Guertin (b••••••••@••••••••.••.ca)
Telephone: 819.956.4479,
1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)
An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community
that a department or agency intends to award a contract for
goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier,
thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in
bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no
supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the
requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date
stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed
with the award to the pre-identified supplier.
2. Definition of the Requirement
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) is an administrative tribunal that regulates and
supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in
Canada. The CRTC has a duty as the Canadian Telecommunications
Regulator to assess the health of the Canadian
telecommunications system. One project being undertaken to
carry out this duty is the measurement of broadband performance.
The information collected and analyzed will be used to develop
telecommunications policy that will impact the Canadian
telecommunications industry.
The CRTC requires a firm that can measure broadband performance
through hardware and backend hosted infrastructure. The
hardware will be distributed and installed within volunteers
homes in Canada and measure and record numerous technical
metrics related to the broadband services being provided by
Canadian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to consumers. The
hardware will continually monitor and report network performance
between the home user's router and the demarcation point in an
ISPs network. The hardware will monitor the performance in both
the "last mile" from the home network to the ISP, as well as the
core network of ISPs.
The hardware works with a global network of test nodes built
using Measurement Labs infrastructure that the devices test
against for the purposes of data collection, data processing,
data presentation and hardware management. The software does not
incorporate any free or open source (F/OSS) code for performance
analytics. The firmware on the test hardware runs a custom
distribution of Linux (an operating system) with additional
features to support performance measurement.
3. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities
(Minimum Essential Requirements)
Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement
of capabilities that its product meets the following mandatory
requirements:
M1 - The hardware must be able to provide accurate data,
suitable for detailed comparisons
between Internet service providers.
M2 - The hardware must be able to provide complete end-to-end
hardware-based network
monitoring and reporting,
M3 - The hardware must be able to provide a solution that can
record, collect, and validate
information on a national scale, and have been deployed in
previous projects in other
jurisdictions (e.g. used by other regulatory agencies)
M4 - The hardware must be able to monitor performance regardless
of whether or not any
computers or devices are on the home network and/or powered on,
M5 - The hardware must detect the presence of live traffic (via
wired or wireless connections),
and only take performance measurements in the absence of such
traffic,
M6 - The hardware must have been verified by an independent 3rd
party such as MIT or the
Georgia Institute of Technology,
M7 - The collection methodology must be able to be validated by
avoiding inconsistencies and
variabilities in the collection methodology,
M8 - The hardware must be able to avoid bottlenecks such as
wireless equipment, misconfigured networks, and older computers
M9 - The hardware must be able to handle speeds greater than
100Mbps,
M10 - The hardware must be capable of reporting network
performance monitoring results on a
national scale to a central location
M11- The data collected must be able to be benchmarked against
data other international
telecommunications regulators such as the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
in the United States, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in
the United Kingdom, the
European Commission (EC) within the European Union), IDA in
Singapore, and Anatel
in Brazil,
M12 - The hardware must be able to account for multiple machines
on the same network
M13 - The hardware must not be affected by the quality and build
of the computer or laptop,
M14 - The hardware must not be affected by the physical location
of the computer or laptop,
M15 - The hardware must not interfere with the volunteer's use
of their internet connection,
M16 - The hardware must not rely on the knowledge, skills, or
participation of the volunteer,
M17 - The hardware must be compatible with a wide range of DSL
and DOCSIS modems that
are currently in use by Canadian ISPs
M18 - The hardware must not expose the volunteer's PC to
increased security risks,
M19 - The software running on the hardware must be upgradable
from a remote location,
M20 - The hardware must alert the supplier and the CRTC of any
monitoring interruptions (e.g.
disconnection, change of location, etc)
Essential Supplier Supplier Requirements
M21 - The supplier must be able to distribute up to 6,200
broadband monitoring hardware units
by December 31st, 2015,
M22 - The supplier must be able to distribute the broadband
monitoring hardware on a an as and
when required basis, including shipment to remote locations
M23 - The supplier must be able to provide the CRTC a license to
access and use the data to
develop its own reports when desired, license to use the
monthly reports developed by the supplier, and license to allow
the CRTC to publish information and findings to the
Canadian public,
M24 - The supplier must be able to conduct network performance
monitoring on a national scale, and have previous experience in
executing such projects for a national communications
regulator in another jurisdiction
4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement:
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT); World Trade Organization -
Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP); North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Canada Free Trade with Columbia,
Panama and Peru.
5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier
Canada considers Sam Knows to be the only known hardware
provider to meet all of the above requirements.
6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)
The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts
Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under
subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the
work".
7. Period of the Proposed Contract and Delivery Date
The proposed contract is from contract award up to and including
December 31, 2015.
8. Name and Address of the Pre-Identified Supplier
SamKnows Ltd., 25 Harley St., London, W1G 9BR, United Kingdom
9. Suppliers' Right to Submit a Statement of Capabilities
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the goods, services or construction services
described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in
writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or
before the closing date of this notice. The statement of
capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the
advertised requirements.
10. Closing Date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities
The closing date and time for accepting statements of
capabilities is 2014/12/29 at 14h EST.
Delivery Date: Above-mentioned
You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate
with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any
questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting
officer identified above.
An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and
agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15)
calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it
intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a
pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or
before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets
the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority
may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of
Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the
ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full
tendering process.
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available
to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a
statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person
identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this
Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate
how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.
The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the
closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the
envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile
transmission, on the covering page.
The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any
procurement.
Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.
