REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) SOLICITATION NO.: PR15-0202 Arizona State Parks for Concessionaires for WIFI at Various Parks Arizona State Parks Procurement Services 1300 W Washington Phoenix, AZ 85007 Margie Silva Phone: (602) 542-6937 Fax: (602) 542-4180 Sr. Procurement Specialist TITLE: BY: ATTENTION: Arizona State Parks for WIFI at Various Parks ARIZONA STATE PARKS Interested Parties ONE TIME SCHUDLED SITE VISIT: Catalina State Park 11570 N. Oracle Road Tucson, AZ 85737 County: Pima Phone: (520) 628-5798 Date: August 14, 2014 Time: 10:00 A.M. Kartchner Caverns State Park 2980 Route South 90 Benson, AZ 85602 County: Cochise Phone: (520) 628-5798 Date: August 21,2014 Time: 11:00 A.M. INQUIRES: Margie R Silva msilva@azstateparks.gov ATTENTION: Interested parties SUBMIT RESPONSE TO: Via mail to: Margie R Silva (602) 542-6937 Arizona State Parks 1300 W. Washington Phoenix, AZ. 85007 ISSUED: July 28, 2014 RESPONSES DUE: Catalina State Park and Kartchner Caverns due by September 5, 2014 @ 3:00 P.M. MST Arizona State Parks 1300 W. Washington Phoenix, AZ. 85007 I. GENERAL INFORMATION: In accordance with ARS 41-2555 Arizona State Parks, hereby gives notice via this Request for Information (RFI), of our desire to receive responses, feedbacks, suggestions and comments regarding the items set forth herin. In accordance with R2-7-G301, responses to an RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted to form abinding contract. Responses are solely responsible for expenses asscociated with responding to the RFI Arizona State Parks is under no obligation to the responding to the RFI Arizona State Parks is under no obligation to the respondents in so far as the next steps to this process are concerned.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION SOLICITATION NO.: PR14- Arizona State Slide Rock Park Arizona State Parks Procurement Services 1300 W Washington Phoenix, AZ 85007 Margie Silva Phone: (602) 542-6937 Fax: (602) 542-4180 II. INSTRUCTIONS: Any submitted materials considered by the respondent to be proprietary or confidential shall be clearly mark as such and provided as a separate section in your response. In response to such request, the State will make reasonable efforts to maintain the confidentiality of these materials to the extent permissible by law. However, should the State be required to release these materials, the State will provide the respondent reasonable notice in advance of doing so in order to allow the respondent time to take any action to prevent these materials from being released. Respondents should, at a minimum, address those items listed in the Requested Items section of the RFI and be in the same relative order as the information is listed for consistency and continuity of the information received. Responses should be as detailed and concise as possbile. Any additional information provided supplementary to what is stated in the RFI should be identified in your response following those items requested herein. Responses shall be in eletronic copy. The eletronic copy should be in a common format, e.g., PDF, DOC, XLS, PPT, RTF, etc. The State may contact respondents to clarify any portions of their submissin. The State may request a presentation/ demonstration in addition to the information delivered in the response. III. PURPOSE: The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback (no longer than Six to fifteen pages and including brochures) and recommenations for the establishment of new contract(s) for regarding the possibility of transitioning or enhancing various operations at Arizona State Park with interested parties. Feedback is requested from providers who has experience with a IEEE 802.11 Direct Sequence (Wi-Fi) network. It is anticipated that responses to this RFI may influence the scope of work within a Request for Quote (RFQ) or an Request for Proposals (RFP) to be issued by Arizona State Parks. IV. RFI IS SEEKING TO OBTAIN: Information from private vendors or other interested parties to determine their interest in providing information, materials, and demenstration a IEEE 802.11 Direct Sequence (Wi-Fi) network within the Arizona State Park system.
SCOPE OF WORK: 1. INTRODUCTION Arizona State Parks Board (ASP) is soliciting an RFI for the design, installation, management and operation of a IEEE 802.11 Direct Sequence (Wi-Fi) network, for the purpose of providing guest Internet access in designated areas of the Parks, particularly campground and cabin visitor areas. ASP invites the submission of qualifications and expressions of interest to license, install and operate a paid guest Wi-Fi network at the listed Arizona State Park locations: Site Locations Catalina State Park 11570 N. Oracle Road Tucson, AZ 85737 County: Pima Kartchner Caverns State Park 2980 Route South 90 Benson, AZ 85602 County: Cochise See above for time and date: ONE TIME SCHEDULED SITE VISIT 2. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS This RFI seeks a solution rather than providing a list of specifications, with the exception of the solution requirements contained herein. Arizona State Parks (ASP) is not necessarily demanding that the solution provide the most attractive revenue generator or the lowest price. RFI will be evaluated based upon criteria formulated around the most important features of a product of service, of which quality, testing, references, availability or capability, may be overriding factors in the issuance of the contract or award. The RFI evaluation criteria, including but not limited to those identified in this document, should be viewed as standard measurements, which gauge how well the vendor s approach meets the desired requirements and needs of the ASP. This RFI is intended to solicit Wi-Fi providers capable of meeting ASP requirements for robust, reliable, user-friendly wireless communications access for use by ASP visitors. In recognition of geographic service areas and bandwidth availability, at offeror s option, offeror may express an interest in providing service to a single site listed within this Arizona State Park site list, or as a grouping of both of the sites, while providing any business plan(s) that will meet the criteria outlined in this RFI. 3. SERVICE AND SYSTEM DESIGN REQUIREMENTS The ASP guest Wireless Network shall be based upon the 802.11 (g/n/ac) standards and must be capable of supporting the traveling visitor in respect to a diverse and growing number of applications and user devices at best practical speeds. In-vehicle wireless use of broadband is expected within Recreational Vehicles (RV s) over multiple acres of campground areas. The back-end or wired portion of the network must be efficient and flexible in order to accommodate future technology upgrades. The Selected Offeror shall: A. Design, install, implement, operate and maintain a 802.11 wireless high fidelity (Wi-Fi) system capable of providing free, uninterrupted, high-speed service to designated areas of the coverage areas at the selected sites. Park campus coverage area to be agreed upon for cost effectiveness and demand. Vender may need to modify future Wi-Fi services as required to meet increased customer demand and/or increased physical areas,, and/or changes in technology designed to improve or enhance wireless device use. B. Ensure support and maintenance of broadband service for continuous Wi-Fi availability and operations, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
C. Broadband Responsibility. Broadband communication backhaul and last mile data telecommunication connections are the sole responsibility of the Offeror. Backhaul and Last Mile shall be either a) provided directly, or b) subcontracted to a Telecommunication company. Offeror is seen as a hosted service provider and its services are then directly offered to customers. Minimum Service Levels of quality and speed must be maintained with this arrangement. D. Minimum Service performance levels shall be designed into the system. All data, wired or wireless, shall be reliable and error-free, with typical minimum broadband data speeds of 500 kilobits per second (Kbps) / per serviced campsite customer, along with typical network latency under 200 milliseconds per campsite. Overall, an expectation of 7 to 10 megabits/second (Mbps) is an expected service utility standard for a distributed loop grouping of campsites. For Arizona State parks, a typical campground loop has approximately 20-25 campsite customers. Defects in service level quality of the broadband network offered to customers are the responsibility of the Offeror and its subcontracted vendor(s). When designing plans for performance for large areas of Wi-Fi signal, offeror should also consider that many customers will be inside metal vehicles, or obstructed by trees, so that antenna and amplifier signal strength considerations should be made carefully. E. Customer Policies. Customers shall be billed for Internet Service through web-based portal entry points at the start of an Internet session. Customers may maintain billing records and accounts with the Offeror. Internet policies, billing and pricing for customers shall be the responsibility of the service provider/offeror, however a documentation of service levels, policy and customer pricing structure shall be included with any proposals. F. Exclusivity. Offeror shall have exclusive Wi-Fi 802.11 provider access to guest customers during the contract period. Cellular Broadband (i.e. 3G and 4G services) provided by the cellular data networks are not considered a Wi-Fi 802.11 service for the purposes of this scope, and as such are not subject to this exclusivity. Customers may continue to use their cellular broadband equipment without restriction. The Contractor shall identify, in its design concept/business plan, the manner in which wireless Internet access shall be sold to new users (i.e. those who have no other provider), and by which access shall be provided to those users who have purchased access from another provider at the time wireless access in the Park is sought. G. Promotion of Contractor (Offeror). The Contractor may employ its logo(s), and other self-promotion schemes, in the course of providing the services described in this document, provided it does so in a manner which does not impede normal guest access or system operations. Prior Arizona State Parks approval is required before the Contractor may introduce atypical or specialized programming, protocols, hardware devices, procedures, and/or web tools used by guest to gain Wi-Fi wireless access. H. Maintenance. Communications and data connections shall be the sole responsibility of the Offer or subcontractor of the offeror. The Contractor may connect into or extend, at its own cost, necessary utilities in accordance with the plans approved by the ASP. The Contractor shall keep the System and all equipment and other personal property neat and clean and in good order and operating condition. 4. INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS AND ONE-TIME COSTS A. All construction projects (electrical, antenna bases, antenna masts) requires compliance and approvals by Arizona State Parks Development Section and Arizona Department of Administration in compliance with building codes. Offeror shall provide for approvals the schematics, plans, and building specifications for campground infrastructure improvements, including concrete anchored pedestal antennas or roof mounts, along with the associated Wi-Fi equipment within and/or over shelters and buildings. Offeror shall provide only ASP approved licensed contractors for construction, including electrical and concrete installations.
B. Construction Projects shall be site-inspected by Arizona State Parks Development during multiple phases of work. C. Construction cost. One-time cost for installation or labor may be considered by Arizona State Parks for payment. An itemized listing of initial construction, labor, material or equipment costs may be optionally submitted with the RFI for a cost evaluation and comparison. After installation, ongoing costs shall be understood to be a part of the normal business model with revenues and pricing collected directly from the customer by the Offeror. D. WI-FI, Antenna, and Networking Equipment Brands. Arizona State Parks shall review and approve design of networking and radio equipment proposal for compliance with manufacturer recommendations for use and installation. In addition to construction documents (above), Offeror shall prepare and submit plan diagrams and materials lists for installation of cabling, antennas, and wired/wireless network equipment. E. Appearance of construction within public view. All designs shall consider the aesthetics of the park environment. No unwieldy or unattractive equipment installations will be allowed inside the public view. Review of plans and designs submitted by offeror will be used to qualify final designs. 4. EXPERIENCE A. Offeror shall provide an overview of firm s experience with wireless Internet services including 2 to 3 summaries of similar multi-acre park or campus projects. Provide references for listed projects. 5. PRICING or REVENUE SHARING A. Depending on several factors, including the contribution of initial construction or initial costs by Arizona State Parks, either a revenue sharing agreement or an ASP service pricing schedule (as payments to the offeror) will need to be determined from the business model. Offeror shall submit a business model that details revenue and cost structure of contract period for evaluation of revenue and cost projections relative to each site location. Projected customer revenue shall be included with these estimates. B. The ASP typically grants Licenses and Concession contracts wherein licensees pay a percentage of their Gross Revenue, as subject to a Minimum Annual Guarantee (MAG), expressed in dollars. Contractor(s) should structure their RFI in this manner, to facilitate their comparison to those of other Offeror(s). The actual payment and forms thereof shall be subject to negotiation, but shall be generally based upon the greater of: 1. (1) Minimum Annual Guarantee, or 2. (2) Percentage of gross revenues per annum, to be proposed. Fee Structure Parks recognizes that the Network Operator/Manager expects to generate a reasonable return on its investment. Therefore, the Contractor should provide a fee structure and forecast to the Parks that ensures the financial viability of the Contractor s offering in ASP while allowing Parks to share in the financial upside of a successful offer. Pricing it is Parks desire to provide services to our visitors at fair and reasonable rates. O this basis, Parks anticipates that WLAN prices will be reasonable and that every effort will be exercised to generate incremental revenue through growth in the customer base. To the degree that information contained in this document allows projected pricing by the Contractor, please estimate ranges of pricing for Parks visitors. Provide pricing aggregators 5. REQUESTED ITEMS: Responders are requested to submit a response in the format outlined in this document. Respondents should, at a minimum, address those items as listed below. The responses should be in the same relative order as the information is requested for consistency and continuity of the information received. Please be brief and respond specifically to the points of the RFI.
6. COVER LETTER: Include a cover letter on respondent s letterhead, citing the RFI and identifying the submission as a response to the RFI. The cover letter should clearly identify the respondent and what type of organization or entity. The cover letter should also designate an individual who will serve as the primary contact for the respondent, including this individual s name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, phone and fax number(s) as applicable. If submitting as a team, respondents should identify a lead entity as well as all prospective members of the team, including any individuals names, titles, company names (if other than lead entity s company) and roles within the team. The contact person for such teams should be with the lead entity. If any aspects of the submission include proprietary or confidential information, the respondent shall identify this specific material in the Cover Letter. 7. OVERVIEW: Provide an overview of the response and its recommendations for improvement of the current Scope of Work. 1. REQUEST: To the extent possible, the State is interested in obtaining the following information concerning the operating automated fee collection machine/security drop arm service. The information should include steps and process, regulations currently in place and required to complete these activities. The information should cover but necessarily be limited to:. Equipment necessary. Other related services (maintains, fees, etc.). Reporting Requirements. Time Frames. Banks to use and. Annual fee cards 2. TRANING AND SKILL SETS: Describe the requirements of the State of Arizona to perform these services as well as training that is available for obtaining services. 3. SIMILAR CUSTOMERS: Provide examples of implementations utilized by similar customers for these services. Include customer contact information, if appropriate. (Note: The State may contact customers listed in your RFI response). 4. PRICING STRUCTURE: Provide a recommended methodology for pricing for products, services, all fees (if applicable) as listed in your RFI response. 8. AZ STATE PARK BACKGROUND AND HISTORY: Catalina State Park and Kartchner Caverns State Park (See www.azstateparks.com )