SUPPLY OF FIELD MAINTENANCE SERVICES FOR RURAL MOBILE NETWORK BASE STATIONS IN BENIN DUE DATE: JULY 25TH, 2014 1. INTRODUCTION AMN has a contract with more than one licensed mobile network operator (the “MNOs”) for the construction and operations & maintenance (O&M) of 200 mobile network base stations, all located in rural areas within Benin. The contracts in Benin are the first of similar contracts that AMN will sign in up to 12 different countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa for a total of approximately 5,000 base stations. All base stations will be deployed by December 2019. This Request For Proposal (RFP), AMN reference RFP1401-1, is for the supply of field maintenance services (FMS) for up to 200 mobile network base stations in Benin. The network is managed by AMN from its Global Network Operations Centre (GNOC) which is located in the UK. The GNOC monitors the status of all components in the network and the traffic levels 24x7. Any anomalies result in a trouble ticket being opened. The GNOC technical staff will first perform remote diagnostic and restorative procedures in order to try and resolve any issues without the need for physical intervention. If it is determined by the GNOC that a physical intervention is required then the GNOC will assign the trouble ticket to the FMS contractor to schedule a visit to site. Each service call will be assigned a priority (1, 2 or 3). The FMS contractor will schedule the despatch a team to the site as soon as possible and in accordance with the priority level and the contract SLAs. The FMS team will take a set of spare equipment from its local depot, which AMN will supply and replenish. On arrival at site, the FMS contractor will execute a pre-defined procedure according to the nature of the fault. AMN will supply training to the FMS contractor. The FMS team will restore service and retrieve any equipment to its local depot which has been replaced during the site visit. The FMS contractor will provide a detailed report on the activities carried out on site, including before-and-after photographs and record the part numbers and serial numbers of equipment replaced. AMN will build the network of up to 200 base stations over a period of 2 years from end 2014 to end 2016. It is envisaged that the number of service calls required will ramp up from approximately 1 per month to 20 per month over this period. It is envisaged that 3 teams will be required to serve the full network. The FMS contractor is required to provide one team initially by the end of 2014 (equipped with a vehicle, test and safety equipment and training). The 2nd team will be added when required during 2015 and the 3rd team when required during 2016. AMN proposes to pay the FMS contractor a fixed retainer fee per team per month, plus a fixed call-out charge per service call. A significant portion of AMN’s base stations will be located in the northern half of Benin. It is foreseen that an optimal location for the first team is in the vicinity of Parakou and that the 2nd team might optimally be located in the vicinity of Kandi (and the location of the 3rd team to be agreed by AMN and the FMS contractor sometime prior to the end of 2015). Each team requires a secure location for the storage of AMN-owned spare equipment for the base station. AMN is responsible for collecting faulty parts from the FMS contractor’s depot and replenishing the stock of spares at the depot. It is envisaged that with the above locations, the average distance to travel to a base station would be less than 150Km. It is further anticipated that each service call might take on average 2-3 days to complete (including travel time) and require the teams to be away overnight for an average of 1-2 nights per service call. It is expected that a single team will be able to complete (meaning restore service to a base station) on average around 8 service calls per month. AMN requests proposals which are based on an all-inclusive (no additional charges) and fixed price for the following · Fixed retainer fee per team per month per team · Fixed price per service call AMN’s intention is that the monthly retainer fee will cover the FMS contractor’s fixed costs of a team including but not limited to engineer labour costs, vehicle and depot costs etc. The fixed service price per call will cover fuel, engineer expenses and consumables.
2. PROPOSAL CONDITIONS Proposers are responsible for their own costs in preparing proposals. AMN accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred by proposers as a result of this RFP. AMN reserves the right not to make any contract award, or to award part of the work described in this document.
3. RFP DUE DATE AND VALIDITY Proposals are due by close of business on Friday July 25th, 2014. Proposals submitted after this date may not be considered in the evaluation. Proposals should be in English and emailed to info@africamobilenetworks.com. Proposals should quote reference number RFP1401. Proposals should be valid for 90 days.
4. EVALUATION CRITERIA The successful bidder will be selected on the basis of the lowest compliant bid. Bidders are requested to provide a detailed capability statement to demonstrate their qualifications for the work, and to provide reference examples. Proposals should include: · Capability Statement · Technical Proposal · Commercial Proposal · Reference Cases AMN reserves the right to include additional criteria in evaluating bids and to make a selection based on the proposal it deems to be in the best interests of AMN.
The FMS service is divided into 3 phases:
6. SERVICE REQUIREMENTS The FMS contractor shall · Allocate one dedicated team for AMN based in a location to be agreed with AMN (first near Parakou, second near Kandi, 3rd TBA) · Each team has, as a minimum, one qualified engineer with adequate skills and training in IP networking, RF and electrical power systems · Each team has, as a minimum, one additional person capable of supporting the engineer(s) with lifting, wiring, driving and general labour activies · Each team is allocated a suitable vehicle (e.g. pickup truck) which is in good working order and properly maintained · Provision a storage facility with good security and insurance for the storage of spare equipment stock which is owned by AMN (minimum of 15 square metres of floor space) · Provide test equipment for each team required to perform on-site diagnostics and tests, to be designated by AMN and with a total value of not more than US$8,000. · Make engineers available for training by AMN in Cotonou at least once per year · Maintain a schedule which shows the allocation of ordered service calls to the team each day · Schedule new service call orders according to the priority (1, 2 or 3 where 1 is the highest priority and 3 is the lowest priority)
SLAs Requirements · The FMS contractor must schedule the despatch of each new service call ordered by AMN within 2 hours ARO (after receipt of order) and advise AMN of the estimated time (and date) of arrival (ETA) at the base station. If a new service call order for AMN with a higher priority requires a prior service call(s) to be rescheduled, then the FMS contractor shall also advise AMN of the revised ETAs for all other service calls affected. · The FMS contractor’s team shall arrive on site within at least 1 hour of the original (or revised) ETA in 90% of service calls · Averaged over a full calendar month, the average time from arrival on site to completion of the work shall not exceed 48 hours in 90% of service calls.
7. COMMERCIAL REQUIREMENTS 7.1. PRICING REQUIREMENTS All prices to be submitted in US dollars. Prices should be broken down as follows: · Fixed monthly retainer fee per team · Fixed fee per service call
7.2. PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS The monthly retainer fee per team will be invoiced in advance and the service call fees shall be invoiced in arrears. The FMS contractor shall invoice AMN for the monthly fee on the first day of each month together with the service call fees for the previous month. AMN will have 30 calendar days to pay each invoice. |
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