GSA to Release Draft RFP for New Telecom Services Contract; Fred Haines Comments

The General Services Administration is set to publish on Saturday a draft request for proposals as part of the agency’s initiative to form a new federal telecommunications contract, Federal Times reported Wednesday.

Fred Haines, program manager of the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, said the EIS contract is meant to provide agencies with an “agile, flexible, easy-to-use procurement vehicle” to purchase telecommunications services, Steve Watkins reports.

Under the EIS vehicle, agencies will work with contractors to develop services tailored to their requirements and list the contract line item numbers in the task order, according to the report.

Haines said industry has the flexibility to adjust pricing based on the procurement’s scale at the task order level and wider options of GSA assistance for making their telecom procurement, Federal Times reports.

Watkins writes the EIS indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract will also replace the GSA Networx contract, which will expire in 2017.

GSA plans to extend Networx until 2020 as agencies begin the transition phase toward the EIS contract, the report says.