Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS (91990020R0009)

B-419045.4,B-419045.5,B-419045.6 Jun 02, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS (CenturyLink), of Monroe, Louisiana, protest the issuance of a task order to AT&T Corporation (AT&T), of Oakton, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 91990020R0009, issued by the Department of Education for telecommunications, networking, and information technology infrastructure services. CenturyLink challenges the agency's conduct of discussions and evaluation of price. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS File:  B-419045.4; B-419045.5; B-419045.6 Date:  June 2, 2021 Shelly L. Ewald, Esq., Robert C. Shaia, Esq., and Andrew L. Balland, Esq., Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP, for the protester. Christian Curran, Esq., Jonathan M. Baker, Esq., Alexandra Barbee-Garrett, Esq., and Rina M. Gashaw, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for AT&T Corporation, the intervenor. Megan Nathan, Esq., Department of Education, for the agency. Lois Hanshaw, Esq., and Evan C. Williams, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Where the agency conducted discussions that reasonably led protester into the area of its proposal requiring amplification, the agency was not required to conduct additional discussions once it determined that the price proposal, as revised, remained unrealistic. 2.  Protest challenging the agency’s price realism analysis is denied where the record shows that protester failed to clearly identify contract line items subject to zero-dollar pricing. DECISION div=""> Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS (CenturyLink), of Monroe, Louisiana, protest the issuance of a task order to AT&T Corporation (AT&T), of Oakton, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 91990020R0009, issued by the Department of Education for telecommunications, networking, and information technology infrastructure services.  CenturyLink challenges the agency’s conduct of discussions and evaluation of price. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On January 23, 2020, the Department issued the RFP under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract.  Agency Report (AR), Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1.  The EIS is a 15-year multiple award indefinite-deliverable, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract that offers services from multiple expiring legacy GSA contracts (Networx, Washington Interagency Telecommunications System WITS 3, and Regional/Local Service Agreements).  AR, Tab C, RFP at 39. The task order competition was conducted pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5.  Id.  The contract would be performed for an 8-month transition period, a 1-year base period, and multiple 1-year option periods spanning 11 years.  RFP at 238.  The RFP advised that the agency may award the contract without conducting discussions.  Id. at 275.  The RFP contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price task order on a best-value tradeoff basis.[1]  Id.  The agency would evaluate proposals considering three non-price evaluation factors, listed in descending order of importance:  (1) technical design and approach (technical approach); (2) service delivery, operations and management approach (management approach); and (3) past performance.  Id.  The RFP additionally advised that the closer the technical capabilities of the various proposals are to one another, the more important price considerations will become, and that proposed prices may become a determining factor in the award as technical capabilities converge.  Id. at 277, 280. As relevant to price, the government would evaluate proposals by adding the total price for the mandatory contract line item numbers (CLINs) to the total price for all optional CLINs for all years (base period of performance and all option years).  Id. at 279.  The RFP also required that where service-related labor is proposed, the proposed CLINs and/or task order unique CLINs (TUCs) shall be indicated in the price proposal.[2]  Id.