Communication #4
Date of Issue: 24 January 2014
1. Answers to questions posed by Bidders.
This communication is issued in terms of paragraph 9.3 of the SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 RFP Main Document.
The information contained in the tables below is issued subject to the provisions of paragraph 12.3 of the SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 RFP Main Document. These questions and answers as well as issued / reissued documents referred to in this document can be found on SARS’s website at www.sars.gov.za. Note that the communications issued by SARS for this RFP are cumulative, i.e. Communication #N will contain all questions, errata that
have been released in previous communications. (i.e. previous communications being any Communication #M, where M is less than N). Question and Answer
No Question Answer
1. I refer to 7.2.1.4 in your SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions regarding Tower D pre-qualifications and also to the SARS RFP 21-2013 Tower D Pre-qualification Response Template as an example for almost all towers, especially the following extraction ":The Bidder must have been supplying services similar to the Services within the scope of Tower D but in aggregate not for a smaller scope than the Services to at least 3 (three) South African customers that are the same size or larger than SARS for at least a period of 3 (three) years"
Please clarify how "in aggregate" must be interpreted.
The aggregation is only relevant to the scope of the Services. SARS will be seeking to ascertain whether the Bidder has been delivering the full scope of the Services to at least three customers of at least the same size as SARS for a period of at least 3 (three) years. SARS recognizes that the Services are made up of a number of elements and that not all customers may require all the elements of the Service. The phrase ‘ in aggregate’ must be interpreted with regards to the scope of the Services as follows:
For each element of the Services the Bidder must show that it has been delivering such element of the Services to at least three customers of at least the same size as SARS for a period of at least 3 (three) years. In aggregate, the elements so delivered must cover the full scope of the Services that SARS requires in that specific Tower. Aggregation should not be applied to achieve the size of the services or the period for which the services were provided, i.e. each customer mentioned for a particular element of scope must have received that particular element of scope of similar size to that SARS requires for a minimum period of 3 (three) years from the Bidder.
For example:
Bidder has been delivering all elements of the scope of Tower D, except for satellite services, to 3 customers A, B and C for the past three years and the size of such of the elements of the services provided to each of the customers A, B and C are the same size or larger than the size of such elements of the services required by SARS; and
Bidder has been delivering satellite services to 3 customers D, E and F for the past three years and the satellite services delivered to each of D,E and F are the same size or larger than those to be delivered to SARS.
‘In aggregate’ the Bidder has then met the requirements.
2. If a bidder is a wholly owned division of a parent company, please advise whether it would be acceptable for the bidder to raise a bid bond via the parent company, another company or whether the bond has to be provided by a bank?
The bid bond must be issued, in the required format, by a South African financial institution in favour of SARS. (See paragraph 11 of the RFP Main Document). While the Bidder may raise the bid bond via (for example via the parent company), the bid bond must be issued by a South African financial institution.
3. At the Compulsory Briefing Session on the 12th of December 2103 we were informed that the presentation that was presented to us on that day will be emailed to us. I have not received this presentation yet. Please confirm when this presentation will be sent out.
The presentation slides are included as part of Communication #2.
Bidders are reminded that the briefing session slides are to supplement the documents in the RFP Pack and may contain additional information. If any information contained in the presentation slides that is in conflict with information provided in the RFP Pack, then the information provided in the RFP Pack takes precedence.
4. Can you please confirm if the Bid Bond is R1500 per Tower or R1.5mil as shown on Page 97 of the Briefing session document?
Bidders are referred to paragraph 11.1 of SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions.
The Bidder is required to submit a Bid Bond in favour of SARS as part of its Proposal for an amount of R1,500,000 ((One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Rand) for the Data Carrier Services Tower (Tower D); R1,500,000 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Rand) for the Voice Carrier Services Tower (Tower V); R1,500,000 ((One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Rand) for the Internet and Hosting Services Tower (Tower I); and R1,500,000 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Rand) for the SMS Carrier Services Tower (Tower S). This amount operates cumulatively for each Tower for which the Bidder is submitting a Proposal. If, for example, a Bidder is submitting a Proposal for Tower D, Tower V and Tower I then the Bidder is required to submit a Bid Bond of R4,500,000 (Four Million, Five Hundred Thousand Rand).
6.1 Scope
The Data Carrier Services scope comprises the provision of the underlying communication technologies that make up the SARS Wide Area Network (“WAN”) and Metropolitan Area Networks (“MANs”). The Data Carrier Services must enable communication from SARS Sites to Town
Concentrators (“TCs”) as listed in Town Concentrator Site List and from the TCs to the central data centre in Brooklyn, Pretoria.
Are Service/ servers being hosted in the Town Concentrators (“TCs”)?
sites. Bidders must adhere to the network specifications given to ensure the Bidder’s solution will support the applications on these servers.
6. Is an attendance letter (proof of attendance at the compulsory briefing session) required to be submitted with the Bidder’s Proposal.
Proof of attendance at the compulsory briefing session is not required to be submitted with the Bidder’s Proposal. The attendance register signed by prospective Bidders at the compulsory briefing session will be used by SARS to determine the Bidder’s compliance with the requirement that a Bidder must attend the compulsory briefing session.
7. Monitoring of the hosted systems in Tower I is required but only a list of the network equipment was supplied.
a) How many Systems need to be monitored within the hosted environment?
b) Is the monitoring only required for that network devices listed in “Hosting Network Hardware Configuration“? If not, please provide a full list of equipment for which monitoring is required and the level to which each system is to be monitored?
Only the network equipment listed in SARS RFP 21-2013 3-15 Hosting Network Hardware Configuration is required to be monitored by the service provider. SARS monitors the systems and server hardware.
8. Please could we get clarification with regards the Firewall/IPS/Hosting requirements in Tower I? Firewall and IPS require 10Gbps throughput but no details is given regarding the architecture of this environment, only a list of Cisco LAN equipment is provided. Please can you provide a diagram or further details on the Firewall and DMZ architecture required to substantiate the 10Gbps requirement?
SARS will provide details of the current architecture when the successful Bidder has been appointed. SARS requires a high available/failover firewall environment capable of 10 Gbps throughput to sustain the load during peak periods. The failover capability must be transparent to the end-user and must be stateful as to minimise the impact in the event of a failover. The current firewall interface configuration comprises 10 x 1Gb physical interfaces and 30 logical interfaces per firewall in the failover cluster. SARS may require future expansion capability on the logical interfaces not exceeding 100 interfaces.
The network IPS devices are required to inspect traffic at the same throughput rate as that of the firewalls which is set at 10Gbps during peak periods. The technical specification has been provided in paragraph 7.4.4.3 of SARS RFP 21-2013 3-1 Business Requirements Specification.
9. Hosting is required for 20 Racks in a Vault but no reference is given to the power requirements for the equipment in these racks. Please provide power requirements or a detailed list of server makes and models in order to calculate the power requirements?
The Tower I Service Provider will be required to provide dual single-phase and three-phase power to each cabinet. The power supplied for both the single-phase and three-phase connections should be made from both the primary and secondary (A and B) hosting data centre supplies.
10. Mention is made of a Bulk Email requirement. Please provide details of what is required if costing is required (e.g. type and quantity of emails and frequency of use of the service)?
The Bulk Email requirement is not a requirement for a Bidder’s proposal in Tower I. It was provided as an example of the type of infrastructure applications that may be required during the term.
Who manages and owns the CE and Town Concentrators? The Town Concentrator sites are managed by SARS and the CE equipment is owned by SARS. The PE equipment at the Town Concentrators must be provided and managed by the Service Provider.
11. Does the monitoring and self-provisioning tool need to currently exist or can we highlight the plans for developing such systems?
The Monitoring and Reporting Portal and the Customer Provisioning Portal do not have to exist currently but the Bidder should show the plan and make the
commitment to have built the Monitoring and Reporting portal within 3 months of the Effective Date. See Paragraph 6.4.9.8 of SARS RFP 21-2013 3-1 Business Requirements Specification.
12. P2P links, can we propose an alternate solution or do we need to stick to the current?
The Bidder must propose the same technology or, where SARS has indicated in the Business Requirements Specification and/or in the Response Template, different technology that is equivalent or better than the existing in terms of capacity, throughput and reliability. If the Bidder wishes to submit an alternate solution where SARS has not specifically solicited an alternate solution, the Bidder must first meet the requirements as set out in the Business Requirements
Specification and then submit an alternative proposal in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 13.5 of SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions. 13. Who owns the current provider routers? The incumbent service provider owns the provider routers.
14. The ISO certifications for hosting, do they need to be current or can a plan be highlighted to apply?
ISO certifications are not a pre-requisite for the hosting provider. Existing ISO qualifications will however improve a Bidder’s score for functionality in the evaluation of the Bidder’s proposal. Plans to achieve certifications will also improve a Bidder’s score for functionality. The Bidder will be bound to deliver on such plans to achieve such certifications.
15. Is SARS going to use the existing routers or can we put down our own routers?
All customer edge routers are SARS owned which will be re-used and will remain SARS’s property. The SP must provide the onsite provider edge routers at the Town Concentrator sites.
16. Will we be allowed SNMP access to the CE and Concentrators if owned and managed by SARS?
scenario or a full blown MPLS scenario? Business Requirements Specification.
‘The current MPLS network to which SARS connects for its data carrier services has been extended to the SARS TCs. The Bidder’s Proposal must include the provision of equivalent services to the SARS TCs.’
By ‘extending the network to the Town Concentrator sites’ SARS requires the Service Provider to place a provider edge router at the Town Concentrators. The statement should not be interpreted to mean that the Service Provider is required to build POPs at the Town Concentrator sites.
18. In Tower D the Primary Site List:
In the ‘SARS RFP 21-2013 3-11 VSAT site List’ document under the ‘VSAT SARS Primary Sites’ tab there are 3 sites listed there but in the ‘SARS RFP 21-2013 5-4-D Tower D Pricing Response Template’ document and the ‘ SARS RFP 21-2013 5-2-D Tower D Technical Response Template’
document there are 12 sites listed. Are the additional 9 sites new or existing sites?
If these additional 9 sites are existing what equipment is currently in use at these sites?
In the document SARS RFP 21-2013 3-11 VSAT Site List there are 2 sheets “VSAT DHA Sites” and “VSAT SARS Primary Sites”. The 12 sites listed are made up of the 9 in the “VSAT DHA Sites” sheet and the 3 in the “VSAT SARS Primary Sites” sheet.
19. In the ‘SARS RFP 12-2013 3-1 Business Requirement Specification’ document it is stated under section 6.4.6 that "The provisioning of satellite circuits must be made on a service basis. The provisioning of satellite circuits to SARS must not be dependent on the sale of any equipment to SARS”. Does this mean that SARS has existing equipment at the Primary sites listed or must an OPEX model be used for the VSAT equipment, or will SARS source their own equipment?
For all current sites for Backup, MTU and DHA links, SARS already owns the VSAT equipment and the Service Provider must not replace but re-use the equipment within their design. Further the Bidder must make provision within the transition plan for cutting-over these VSAT sites to the Bidder’s network.
For new sites going forward, the on-site VSAT equipment must be included on a “service pricing” basis. The rate card for new satellite installation and usage is in TD.5.3 of SARS RFP 21-2013 5-4-D Tower D Pricing Response Template – this is
for a satellite service to be provided to meet SARS’s future requirements (including equipment, service and usage).
20. Please confirm if the 60 satellite backup sites have been separated into 2 separate pools of 1600TX/3400RX or is this a single pool. The Tower D Pricing Response Template reflects 2 pools whereas the VSAT site list reflects 1 pool.
There should only be a single pool for all SARS Backup sites. It appears that there are 2 pools in the SARS RFP 21-2013 5-4-D Tower D Pricing Response Template
due to page print cutting over the next page. As a result it appears that there is a second pool. The Bidder must just treat this section of Pricing Template as setting out one pool.
21. SARS RFP 21-2013 4-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services No specific response is required from the Bidder relating to PABX rentals, voice over IP services or wireless voice services. Page 118 of SARS RFP 21-2013 4-1
Agreement
On page 118 of the agreement you refer to PABX rentals, voice over IP services and wireless voice services. According to our understanding this is out of scope and not part of the tender. Please clarify.
Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Agreement simply documents the potential scope of Tower V. The final list describing the scope will be determined at time of finalising the contract.
22. In Section 7.4.1 of the ‘SARS 3-1 Business Requirements Specification’ Document it is stated under the Existing Number Retention point that 'The Service Provider must be able to provide the Voice Carrier Services without the transition from the incumbent service provider to the Service Provider requiring SARS to change its numbers.’ Does is mean that the Primary Voice Carrier Provider must port the existing SARS geographical numbers so that SARS can retain their existing numbers?
The Primary Voice Carrier Provider will be required to port the existing SARS geographical numbers in order to meet the condition that SARS will not have to change its numbers for incoming calls, unless the Bidder can propose an alternate solution by which SARS’s numbers for incoming calls do not change.
23. In the Document titled 'SARS RFP 21-2013 5-1-V Tower V Pre-qualification Response Template’ under section 4, it is stated 'If the Bidder is submitting a proposal for the Preferred Outbound Voice Carrier Provider Services then the Bidder must be carrying outbound calls over a wired network directly to the terminating network operator. The Bidder may not propose a solution that takes outbound calls directly to cellular networks over the air.’ and further on in the Instructions table 'The Bidder must confirm that the Bidder will be taking the outbound voice traffic over a wired network to the all terminating operators and ‘not over the air’. Does the phrase ‘not over the air’ refer to premicell technology? If so then can the Preferred Outbound Voice Carrier Provider carry voice traffic over a licensed spectrum
wireless/WiMax link to the Preferred Outbound Voice Carrier Provider’s PoP and then over a wired network directly to the terminating network operator?
The Instruction table should read Bidder must confirm that the Bidder will be taking the outbound voice traffic over a wired network to the terminating operators and ‘not directly to the terminating operators over the air’. The phrase ‘not directly to the terminating operators over the air’ would mean that a proposal that was based on premicell technology would not qualify. The scenario posed of carrying voice calls over a service provider wireless link and then over a wired circuit to the terminating operator does not carry the call ‘directly to the terminating operator over the air’ and would therefore qualify.
24. Please confirm if the TC equipment will be supplied by SARS or must the bidder supply the equipment?
Nowhere in the RFP does it mention what routers/switches SARS may need or the required design of the TCs.
Will the new incumbent replace the current hardware with their own? And if so what is the required spec for this hardware, or would they take over the current equipment?
The incumbent service provider owns the terminating provider edge equipment at SARS Town Concentrators and SARS owns the customer edge equipment. The Service Provider must deploy its own provider edge equipment at the Town Concentrators. The specifications of the provider edge equipment must be determined by the Bidder as part of its proposal. The equipment must be specified to meet the bandwidth specification set out in the Business Requirements
prepared to accept the Bidder’s banker’s standard bid bond wording or alternatively amend the SARS template.
bond wording or alternatively to accept amendments to the SARS template. SARS has decided not to permit deviations from the conditions of the RFP as they were issued. In this regard, SARS refers Bidders to the SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions document in general and more specifically to paragraph 9.6.1.4 and document: SARS RFP 21-2013 5-6 Bid Bond - required format.
Errata
No Document Ref Original Text / Description Corrected Text / Description
1. SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions
11.1.3 Omitted in original “11.1.3 The Bid Bond must be issued with an expiry
date of no earlier than 10 August 2014.” 2. SARS RFP 21-2013 3-1 Business
Requirements Specification
8.4.5 “8.4.5 Hosted Infrastructure Application Services
(optional)” “8.4.5 Hosted Infrastructure Application Services (mandatory)” 3. SARS RFP 21-2013 1-1 Network Carrier
and Infrastructure Services Summary Guidelines Instructions and Conditions
13.2.1 The table in 13.2.1 does not include a row referencing the submission of the SARS Oaths of Secrecy / Solemn Declaration to be completed by the Bidder’s bid team.
An additional row must be inserted after row number 4 in the table with the following text:
“SARS Oath of Secrecy /Solemn declarations that have been properly completed and signed by all members of the Bidder’s Bid team before a Commissioner of Oaths.
In the hardcopy file the original documents must be included.
In the electronic copy the original documents must be scanned and submitted in PDF format.”
4. SARS RFP 21-2013 3-1 Business Requirements Specification
8.5.1 The bulleted list contains an item “Bulk Email
Services” The bullet item referencing “Bulk Email Services” must be deleted
5. SARS RFP 21-2013 3-1 Business Requirements Specification
8.1 The Internet and Hosting Services scope comprises the provision of Internet connections, hosting services and related services, such as firewall and mail
The Internet and Hosting Services scope comprises the provision of Internet connections, hosting services and related services, such as firewall and mail
The Bidder must provide a Proposal for all the
following mandatory elements of scope in order to bid for Tower I:
Internet access services; Hosting of SARS infrastructure; Firewall and IPS services; Remote Access Services;
Monitoring and Reporting Portal; and Customer Provisioning Portal.
The Bidder may provide a Proposal for the following elements of scope in Tower I in addition to the mandatory elements of scope listed above:
Email gateway service (SPAM and anti-virus);
Bulk Email services; and
Hosted environment network support.
The Bidder must provide a Proposal for all the following mandatory elements of scope in order to bid for Tower I:
Internet access services; Hosting of SARS infrastructure; Firewall and IPS services;
Email gateway service (SPAM and anti-virus);
Remote Access Services;
Monitoring and Reporting Portal; and Customer Provisioning Portal.
The Bidder may provide a Proposal for the following elements of scope in Tower I in addition to the mandatory elements of scope listed above:
Hosted environment network support.
Documents Re-issued
No Original Document Updated / New Version
No updated documents have been issued as at the date of this communication
Additional Documents Issued
No Additional Documents Issued
