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

B-420095 Oct 06, 2021 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS (CenturyLink) protests the issuance of a task order to Granite Telecommunications, LLC under an unnumbered solicitation issued by AgFirst-Farm Credit Bank. The solicitation seeks network/data services and software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) services and contemplates issuance of a task order under the General Services Administration's (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. CenturyLink contends that AgFirst unreasonably evaluated proposals under the technical and price factors, impermissibly permitted individual credit unions to influence the award decision, conducted inadequate and unequal discussions, and failed to evaluate proposals for compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act. We dismiss the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS File:  B-420095 Date:  October 6, 2021 Shelly L. Ewald, Esq., Emily C. Brown, Esq., and Andrew L. Balland, Esq., Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP, for the protester. Alexander O. Levine, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging actions by AgFirst-Farm Credit Bank is dismissed because the procuring entity is not a federal agency as defined by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 and therefore the challenged actions are not matters within GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction. DECISION Qwest Government Services, Inc. d/b/a CenturyLink QGS (CenturyLink) protests the issuance of a task order to Granite Telecommunications, LLC under an unnumbered solicitation issued by AgFirst-Farm Credit Bank.  The solicitation seeks network/data services and software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) services and contemplates issuance of a task order under the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract.[1]  CenturyLink contends that AgFirst unreasonably evaluated proposals under the technical and price factors, impermissibly permitted individual credit unions to influence the award decision, conducted inadequate and unequal discussions, and failed to evaluate proposals for compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act. We dismiss the protest. AgFirst issued the instant solicitation on January 13, 2021, seeking a contractor to transform AgFirst’s network architecture into a provider-managed SD-WAN and to support the operation of the SD-WAN environment.  Task Order Solicitation at 13.  AgFirst is a borrower-owned financial institution that provides credit to farmers, ranchers, residents of rural communities, agricultural and rural utility cooperatives, and other eligible borrowers.  Farm Credit Administration (FCA) Letter, Sept. 16, 2021, at 1.  The protester submitted a proposal on February 5.  On August 2, AgFirst notified the protester of the award to Granite.  This protest followed.[2] The jurisdiction of our Office is established by the bid protest provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3551-3557. Our role in resolving bid protests is to ensure that the statutory requirements for full and open competition are met.  Pacific Photocopy & Research Servs., B-278698, B-278698.3, Mar. 4, 1998, 98-1 CPD ¶ 69 at 4.  As relevant here, CICA defines a protest to be a written objection by an interested party to a solicitation or other request by a federal agency for bids or proposals for a contract for the procurement of property or services, or an award or proposed award of such a contract. 31 U.S.C. §§ 3551(1), 3553.  Our threshold jurisdictional concern is whether the procurement at issue is being conducted by a federal agency.  Americable Int’l, Inc., B-251614, B-251615, Apr. 20, 1993, 93-1 CPD ¶ 336 at 2. CICA adopted the definition of a federal agency set forth in section 3 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (FPASA), 40 U.S.C. § 102.  See 31 U.S.C. § 3551(3).  FPASA defines a federal agency as “an executive agency or an establishment in the legislative or judicial branch of the Government (except the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Architect of the Capitol, and any activities under the direction of the Architect of the Capitol).”  40 U.S.C. § 102(5).  An executive agency is “an executive department or independent establishment in the executive branch of the Government,” or “a wholly owned Government corporation.” Id.