CalREN BRIEFING PACKAGE #2 SEPTEMBER 7, 1993 CalREN, a Pacific Bell Trust ---------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents I. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PROCESS Ia. RFP Schedule Ib. RFP Distribution Ic. RFP Response Preparation Id. RFP Response Evaluation II. PACIFIC BELL TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT IIa. CalREN Geographies IIb. Technology Availability/Timing III. QUESTIONS IV. CalREN CONTACT INFORMATION APPENDIX A - RFP Schedule B - Questions & Answers -------------------------------------------------------- ---- I. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PROCESS The CalREN Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitation process will consist of five separate RFPs as follows: 1) Asynchronous Transmission Mode (ATM) - San Francisco Bay Area 2) Asynchronous Transmission Mode (ATM) - Greater Los Angeles Area 3) Education 4) Health Care 5) Community, Government, & Commercial Services The first two RFPs will be technology-specific for Asynchronous Transmission Mode (ATM)-based applications. The ATM RFPs are technology-specific due to the highly specialized nature of the early applications, and the number and complexity of individual project requirements. Two RFPs are necessary for ATM because of differences in ATM technology deployment timing in Northern and Southern California (deployment specifics are provided in Section II of this package). All projects which require ATM technology must be submitted in response to the ATM RFPs. The remaining RFPs have been segmented by target market/community of interest. The Education, Health Care, and Community, Government, & Commercial Services RFPs will be open for the remainder of the CalREN- sponsored technologies: - Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) - Frame Relay - Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) - Switched Digital Services 56 (SDS-56). When each of these RFPs is issued, they will be issued simultaneously to the Northern and Southern California CalREN geographies. Ia. RFP Schedule The RFP schedule is provided in Appendix A. The schedule is subject to change due to technology deployment issues. Technology deployment is covered in Section II of this package. Ib. RFP Distribution The RFPs will be distributed to the CalREN mailing list. This mailing list consists of both U.S. Mail addresses and Internet E-Mail addresses. If you are not part of the mailing list, see Section IV of this package for specifics on how to contact the CalREN staff to be added. If you have already subscribed to the CalREN Internet E- Mail list, you will be able to obtain the CalREN RFPs by accessing the CalREN listserver: To view a list of the available CalREN information send the following message to "listserver@pacbell.com": index calren The "index" message must be the first part of the text of your E-Mail message. To retrieve information on a particular topic (the topics are viewed by using the "index" command), send the following message to "listserver@pacbell.com": get calren Example: get calren briefing-1 (sends Briefing Package No. 1 to your address). Ic. RFP Response Preparation Several resources are available to assist you with RFP response preparation. The primary resource will be CalREN RFP Briefing Sessions. Attendance at Briefing Sessions is not required and may not be necessary to develop promising proposals. The first Briefing Session, which will cover the ATM-San Francisco Bay Area RFP only, is scheduled as follows: Date: September 23, 1993 Time: 10:00AM to 12:00PM Location: San Francisco Airport Hilton San Francisco International Airport SF Airport Exit off the 101 Freeway Airport Shuttle Available RSVP By: September 16, 1993 RSVP To: Laura Sanford (510) 823-7028 Briefing Sessions for the remaining RFPs will be scheduled and announced at a later date. A second resource is the CalREN "Willing Participants" list. This list is maintained by the CalREN staff and includes companies who have expressed interest in being part of (but not necessarily leading) a CalREN submission. Aspiring project participants who are lacking a necessary component for their submission should contact the CalREN staff for a search for a potential match. This list is informational only, it does not constitute an endorsement of a particular supplier by CalREN or Pacific Bell. Also be aware that CalREN will not actually establish linkages between potential project collaborators, we will merely provide contact information. A third resource for questions relative to Pacific Bell telecommunications services and most technology deployment issues are the Pacific Bell Account Teams. If you do not have an Account Team contact, the CalREN staff can assist you in obtaining one. A fourth resource is the CalREN staff. We can assist you with questions relative to the CalREN program itself, and RFP procedures. See Section IV of this package for details on how to contact the CalREN staff. Id. RFP Response Evaluation The first step in the RFP evaluation process will be a thorough review of the Executive Summary portion of the proposal, followed by a check of the remainder of the proposal to determine compliance with the proposal requirements as stated in the RFP. The second step will be the review, prioritizing, and approval of projects by an external council of private and public industry experts. II. PACIFIC BELL TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT IIa. CalREN Geographies CalREN projects, and the technologies necessary to support them will be in two California geographies: 1) the San Francisco Bay Area, and 2) the Greater Los Angeles Area. The San Francisco Bay Area consists of the majority of Area Codes 415, 510, and 408 (as far south as Watsonville). The Greater Los Angeles Area consists of the majority of Area Codes 213, 310, and 818. In both the Northern and Southern California CalREN geographies, those areas served by GTE are excluded unless special arrangements have been made with GTE. IIb. Technology Availability/Timing San Francisco Bay Area: Technology Availability Timing ATM* Geography-Wide 12-93 SMDS Geography-Wide Available Now Frame Relay* Geography-Wide Anticipated Tariff 10-15-93 ISDN Phased Call 1-800-995-0346 for availability & deployment info SDS-56 Geography-Wide Available Now Greater Los Angeles Area: Technology Availability Timing ATM* Geography-Wide 3-31-94 SMDS Geography-Wide Available Now Frame Relay* Geography-Wide Anticipated Tariff 10-15-93 ISDN Phased Call 1-800-995-0346 for availability & deployment info SDS-56 Geography-Wide Available Now * ATM and Frame Relay are pending CPUC approval, thus the timing associated with these technologies is subject to change. Should major changes occur they will be communicated through subsequent CalREN briefings. III. QUESTIONS Questions and answers from CalREN Briefing Package No. 1, and other CalREN activities are provided in Appendix B. If you have additional questions as a result of this briefing package or other CalREN communication activities, please submit them to the CalREN staff (see Section IV of this package). IV. CalREN CONTACT INFORMATION FAX: (510) 277-0673 Mail: The CalREN Program c/o Pacific Bell 2600 Camino Ramon Rm. 3S306 San Ramon, CA 94583 E-Mail Internet Address: CALREN@PACBELL.COM To be placed on the CalREN Internet E-Mail distribution list, send the following message to "listserver@pacbell.com": subscribe calren The "subscribe" message must be the first part of the text of the E-Mail message. The subject field is ignored. Your Internet return address is used as the distribution list address. Once subscribed, you will then receive all CalREN broadcast notices. To remove your name, send a similar message using the command "unsubscribe". --------------------------------------- Appendix B Questions & Answers On August 16, 1993, CalREN conducted a Briefing Meeting for suppliers likely to be interested in CalREN participation. The following group of questions are from that session: Q) Will all project proposals be evaluated at the same time? A) In general, yes. The exception will be the initial Request for Proposal (RFP) for Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) for the San Francisco Bay Area. As indicated in the schedule, we will accept proposals as early as November 1, 1993, and as late as December 15, 1993. Early submissions which meet all CalREN criteria may be approved and awarded in 1993. The reason for the staggered acceptance dates is to balance cost, schedule, and quality issues. CalREN's objective is to have the first projects up and running by the end of 1993. To that end, Pacific Bell is pursuing an extremely aggressive ATM deployment schedule. The staggered acceptance/due dates provide for early acceptance and implementation of projects which are relatively quick to formulate, while not precluding those which may take longer to assemble. Q) Who will manage the accepted projects? A) Projects will be lead by the application developer/provider. RFP responses will need to include a well-defined project management plan. CalREN will audit and hold periodic status reviews with the approved projects. Q) How will CalREN Council members be selected? A) Council members will be recruited based on their expertise with the technology involved and/or their expertise within the target market. Q) What will determine the length of the projects? A) CalREN projects cannot exceed two years in length, from the time of implementation. We expect, however, for most projects to be between six and eighteen months in length. An education project, for example, may require a semester or one school year to measure its benefits. Q) Who will be responsible for measuring the benefits of applications, and documenting them? A) The application developer/provider project manager will have the principal responsibility, however, Pacific Bell will evaluate project results to determine product enhancements, additional applications, etc. Q) What will happen with the "Willing Participant" list? A) CalREN will maintain a list of companies who have expressed an interest in being part of (but not necessarily leading) a CalREN submission. Aspiring project participants who are lacking a necessary component for their submission should contact the CalREN staff for a search for a potential match. This list is informational only, it does not constitute an endorsement of a particular supplier by CalREN or Pacific Bell. Q) Will Pacific Bell have money for publicity of the benefits demonstrated by CalREN participants? A) Yes, Pacific Bell plans to publicize the benefits of select projects. Q) Will RFPs be awarded with a monetary cap to both CalREN and the suppliers? A) Each approved project will be capped by CalREN. No monetary cap is being imposed upon providers. Q) Will Pacific Bell be using CalREN as a method to evaluate the technologies? A) No, Pacific Bell uses California Public Utilities Commission-approved technology tests and market trials as its technology evaluation methods. Q) Will CalREN be collaborating with any national projects? A) CalREN hopes to receive project proposals that are national in scope, even though CalREN funding is only available for the California portion of those projects. Additionally, CalREN has been in contact with major national efforts of a similar nature, and we are mutually aware of, and supportive of each others' goals and objectives. Q) How widely will project information be shared beyond other project participants? A) CalREN anticipates that project information will be shared quite widely beyond the program, in fact, the project results/final report will be public information. The RFP allows for proposals to specify areas which are considered proprietary, however, proposals which contain a high number of proprietary elements will not fare as well during the evaluation process as those that do not. Q) What will CalREN do with a proposal that has a "hole" in it (i.e. just one component is missing)? A) Proposals with minor problems/omissions will not necessarily be summarily rejected, they may be returned to the originator for correction/completion. Aspiring project participants who are aware that their proposal has a "hole" should attempt to fill it through the "Willing Participants" list before submitting their proposal. Contact the CalREN staff for a search. In CalREN Briefing Package No. 1, we solicited questions from package recipients. The following group of questions was received: Q) What area does the "Greater Los Angeles Area" cover? Specifically, does it cover Orange, Riverside, and San Bernadino counties? A) The area covered is clarified in Section IIa. It does not include Orange, Riverside, and San Bernadino counties. Q) How many ATM ports will be available per ATM project? A) CalREN anticipates one port per project participant.