Gulfnet Communications Company, WLL

B-417516 Jun 21, 2019 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Gulfnet Communications Company, W.L.L., of Kuwait City, Kuwait, protests the issuance of a delivery order to VIVA Bahrain B.S.C. Closed, of Manama, Bahrain, under solicitation No. HC102119QA033, issued by the Defense Information Systems Agency to acquire a telecommunications circuit between two U.S. military bases in the United Arab Emirates. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of the awardee's quotation. We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Gulfnet Communications Company, W.L.L. File:  B-417516 Date:  June 21, 2019 Ahmad Al Ibrahim for the protester. Travis L. Vaughan, Esq., Defense Information Systems Agency, for the agency. April Y. Shields, Esq., and Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Agency reasonably questioned whether quotation submitted under a name other than the protester’s could form the basis for a contract binding the protester. 2.  Protester that did not submit a quotation that could form the basis for a binding contract is not an interested party to challenge award. DECISION Gulfnet Communications Company, W.L.L., of Kuwait City, Kuwait, protests the issuance of a delivery order to VIVA Bahrain B.S.C. Closed, of Manama, Bahrain, under solicitation No. HC102119QA033, issued by the Defense Information Systems Agency to acquire a telecommunications circuit between two U.S. military bases in the United Arab Emirates.  The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s quotation.[1] We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. BACKGROUND The solicitation, issued on January 17, 2019, contemplates the issuance of a delivery order for leased fiber optic transmission services between SAS Al Nakhl Air Base and Al Dahfra Air Base, both in the United Arab Emirates, for an anticipated period of 60 months.  See Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, Inquiry/Quote/Order Solicitation, at 1.  The competition was limited to firms that previously had been awarded a basic agreement by the agency’s Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO); in this regard, the solicitation states:  “Contractors/[Telecommunication Providers] that do not have a current DITCO [basic agreement] must execute one with the appropriate DITCO office prior to submitting any quotes.”  Id. at 65; see also id. at 53 (Standard Provision 01 – DITCO Basic Agreement).[2]  The solicitation also advises that quotations “must include all required documents and responses . . . to be considered eligible for award,” and that award would be made on a lowest-price, technically acceptable basis.  Id. at 65. Of relevance here, the record establishes the following undisputed facts:  Gulfnet holds a basic agreement with DITCO, which was established in May 2012.  In August 2018, Gulfnet attempted to amend its basic agreement to include “B.Online” as an “assumed company business name[.]”  In December, the agency informed Gulfnet that, in order to use a different name in its basic agreement with DITCO, Gulfnet would need to register its different name in the System for Award Management (SAM) and execute a change-of-name agreement in accordance with FAR § 42.1205; the agency further advised that Gulfnet should include only the registered name in its quotations until it completed those requirements.  Gulfnet did not register a different name in SAM or execute a change-of-name agreement; moreover, Gulfnet’s basic agreement with DITCO was not amended to include B.Online, and there is no basic agreement between B.Online and DITCO.  See Comments, Exhibit 2, Email from Gulfnet to Agency regarding Updated Basic Agreement, Aug. 9, 2018, at 1; AR, Tab 1, Email from Agency to Gulfnet regarding Name Change Agreement Requirement, Dec. 12, 2018, at 1; Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 5-8. On or before March 18, 2019, the agency received five quotations, including one from “B.Online (formerly known as Gulfnet Communications).”  AR, Tab 7, Quotation, Mar. 18, 2019, at 2; COS/MOL at 7.  After an administrative review, the agency determined that B.Online’s quotation was non‑compliant because B.Online did not hold a basic agreement with DITCO as required by the solicitation.  See COS/MOL at 7-8.  The agency sent B.Online a clarification evaluation notice to which the vendor responded by providing Gulfnet’s basic agreement number.  AR, Tab 13, Evaluation Notice Response, Mar.