It is recommended that the Mayor and City Commission approve the Resolution accepting the City Manager's recommendation, pursuant to RFP 2023-628-LB for wide area network and internet services, authorizing the Administration to enter negotiations with Hotwire Communications LTD for internet connectivity (Group 1) and AT&T Corp for wide area network services (Group 2). The Resolution also authorizes the City Manager and City Clerk to execute agreements upon the conclusion of successful negotiations.

This solicitation is currently under the cone of silence.

The City operations require internet connectivity and wide area network (WAN) services, an electronic network that connects devices across the organization. The services are required for most of the City's operational needs, including but not limited to cross-functional data transmission, life safety systems, access control and facilities management needs, and public wireless internet connectivity. Internet connectivity services are currently provided by Hotwire Communications. WAN services are currently provided by AT&T.

In order to consider replacement agreements for these services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. RFP 2023-628-LB for Wide Area Network and Internet Connectivity Services was developed to seek proposals from qualified parties.

On September 13, 2023, the Mayor and the City Commission authorized the issuance of Request for Proposals (RFP) No. RFP 2023-628-LB for wide area network and internet connectivity services. On September 13, 2023, the RFP was issued. A voluntary pre-proposal conference was held to provide information to proposers submitting a response on September 28, 2023. The Procurement Department issued bid notices to 10,904 companies through the City's e-procurement system, with 57 prospective bidders accessing the advertised solicitation. RFP responses were due and received on October 18, 2023. The City received four (4) proposals from the following firms:

·       AT&T Corp

·       Comcast Business Communications LLC

·       Crown Castle Fiber LLC

·       Hotwire Communications LTD

The bid submitted by Crown Castle Fiber LLC failed to provide a completed Cost Proposal Form as required in the RFP. Therefore, the proposal has been deemed non-responsive and cannot be further considered.

On October 12, 2023, the City Manager appointed an Evaluation Committee via LTC # 458-2023 to consider the proposals received. The Committee was comprised of Francisco Garcia, Fleet and Facilities Division Director; Lazaro Guerra, Public Safety Communications Division PSCU Administrator; Shari Lipner, Emergency Management Division Administrator; Omar Mendoza, Public Works Principal Engineer; and Frank Quintana, Information Technology Chief Information Officer. The Evaluation Committee convened on October 27, 2023, to consider the proposals received.

The Committee was provided an overview of the project, information relative to the City's Cone of Silence Ordinance, and the Government Sunshine Law. The Committee was also provided with general information on the scope of services and a copy of each proposal. The Committee was instructed to score and rank each proposal pursuant to the evaluation criteria established in the RFP.

The evaluation process resulted in the ranking of proposers as indicated below and in Attachment A.

With regard to Group 1 – internet connectivity, the evaluation process, which includes a consideration of qualifications, scope of services and cost, resulted in Comcast as the top-ranked bidder, closely followed by AT&T as the second-ranked bidder. However, Section 2-369 of the City Code requires that, in determining the lowest and best bidder, in addition to price, there shall be considered the following:

(1) The ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract.

(2) Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified, without delay or interference.

(3) The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency of the bidder.

(4) The quality of performance of previous contracts.

(5) The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract.

Both Comcast and Hotwire have previously performed work for the City. Hotwire communications has performed well with the City not experiencing any major deficiencies in the internet services that are so critical to City operations. The City has, however, experienced significant deficiencies with Comcasts' performance.

The City has experienced inconsistent internet services relating to the revenue control and access systems at the City's parking garage. During this term, Comcast experienced multiple extended outages that forced the Skidata system to be unavailable. These service interruptions forced the Parking Department to open access to garages without the ability to collect payments, which caused a loss of revenue for the City. Based on this prior performance, the chair stated that they could not support continuing to do business with Comcast Business Communications LLC. Additionally, the City continues to experience an extended outage relating to critical data center connectivity that began in December of 2021 and continues today for critical services that remain unresolved. When services were transitioned to Hotwire in 2018 under the current agreement, Comcast was the only vendor capable of providing the required services in the affected area, and, therefore, those services were not transitioned to Hotwire. However, despite multiple attempts by the City to correct the outage with Comcast, the matter remains unresolved.

Finally, with regard to the evaluation process, which resulted in Comcast being deemed top-ranked, it is important to note that when cost is not considered, the Evaluation Committee ranked Comcast in last place of the three proposals considered. Comcast's first-place rank is primarily attributable to the points it received for the cost portion of the evaluation criteria, where it submitted a cost proposal that was approximately 50% less than the cost proposal submitted by Hotwire and AT&T. However, any financial benefits that could be experienced by the City if it were to award a contract to Comcast would likely be short-lived as Comcast took several exceptions to the terms and conditions of the RFP, including reserving the right to increase prices at any time throughout the contract period.

Given Comcast's prior performance and the fact that the Evaluation Committee, when considering qualifications and scope of services, deemed Comcast to be the lowest-ranked bidder, as well as the exceptions that Comcast took to the terms and conditions of the RFP with regard to pricing, staff does not believe it is prudent to award a contract to Comcast for internet services. Instead, staff recommends that internet services be awarded to Hotwire Communications, the top-ranked bidder when qualifications and scope of services are considered, and the second-ranked bidder overall when cost points are added.  

With regard to Group 2 – WAN services, the evaluation process resulted in AT&T being top-ranked when qualifications, scope of services, and cost are considered. AT&T is the current provider of WAN services and has performed well throughout the contract term.

The department's annual budget is approximately $500,000 for this project but may vary year to year depending on budget appropriations. It is not anticipated that grant funding will be utilized for this Project. 

Based on the foregoing, the Administration recommends that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach approve the Resolution accepting the City Manager's recommendation, pursuant to RFP 2023-628-LB  for wide area network and internet services, authorizing the Administration to enter negotiations with Hotwire Communications LTD for Group 1 – internet connectivity and AT&T Corp for Group 2 – wide area network services, and authorizing the City Manager and City Clerk to execute agreements upon conclusion of successful negotiations.

Was Agenda Item initially requested by a lobbyist which, as defined in code Sec. 2-481, includes a principal engaged in lobbying?  No.