Phoenix Rising BBS/phoenixrising.zip/phoenixrising/pac_bell/atmsf.txt

Text File | 1995-03-20 | 22KB | 622 lines

    Request for CalREN Proposal
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Access
       San Francisco Bay Area


TABLE  OF CONTENTS

I.    INTRODUCTION
          I.A  CalREN OVERVIEW
          I.B  ATM SERVICE DESCRIPTION
          I.C  PROPOSALS AND PROPOSAL SELECTION
          I.D  RESTRICTIONS

II.   PROJECT GUIDELINES & CRITERIA
          II.A  PROJECT DESCRIPTION
          II.B  PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
          II.C  EXPECTED BENEFITS
          II.D  PROJECT LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT PLAN

III.  PROPOSAL PROCESS

          III.A   PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
          III.B   PROPOSAL FORMAT

        SECTION 1:  Executive Summary
        SECTION 2:  Body of the Proposal
        SECTION 3:  Project Leadership & Management
        SECTION 4:  Attachments to Proposal

ATTACHMENT:  ATM Product Description


I.       INTRODUCTION


I.A     CalREN OVERVIEW

CalREN, the California Research and Education Network,
is Pacific Bell's program to stimulate the development
and dissemination of high speed communications
applications.  CalREN's goal is to promote the
development of applications that:

o Improve education and health care delivery
o Improve business and governmental processes
o Facilitate new business development and job creation
o Improve the economic competitiveness of California

CalREN, an established trust of Pacific Bell, will
promote application development by sponsoring
demonstration projects which are dedicated towards these
goals.  CalREN's sponsorship is the pro bono access to
and use of specific Pacific Bell network services for a
specific period of time:  ATM, SMDS, Frame Relay,
Centrex IS, SDS-IS, and SDS-56.

This solicitation is for CalREN projects in the San
Francisco Bay Area targeted at ATM access only.
For purposes of this RFP, the San Francisco Bay Area is
defined by LATA 1.  Approved ATM projects in the San
Francisco Bay Area will be prioritized and implemented
during the first six months of 1994.  CalREN will
solicit additional project proposals under separate
solicitations as outlined in Briefing Package No. 2.

Additional CalREN overview information can be found in
the CalREN Briefing Package No. 1 (6/30/93) and Briefing
Package No.2 (9/7/93).  For copies, please fax your
request to CalREN at [phone].


I.B     ATM SERVICE DESCRIPTION

ATM is a cell-based transport scheme, which allows for
the effective support of applications requiring variable
bandwidth with maximum rates in the range of several
hundreds of megabits per second.  ATM will offer a
robust platform supporting a number of applications that
require voice, data and image integration.

Pacific Bell plans to offer ATM as a high-speed public
network communication service.  The initial ATM access
offering will provide a sequence preserving, connection
oriented transport service with customer access at DS-3
(44.736 Mbps) and OC-3c (155.52 Mbps - optical) rates.
Pacific Bell plans to connect 5 - 10 users per month,
starting January, 1994.

See attached ATM Product Description for additional
details.


I.C     PROPOSALS AND PROPOSAL SELECTION

I.C.1   Proposals

Proposed ATM projects must be focused on high-impact
applications in the experimental, wide-area, high-
performance network environment.  CalREN encourages
collaborative proposals that demonstrate broad based or
"global" end-user benefits. The projects should be
limited in scope and the application should be the
"core" of the project.  Projects are expected to be 12
to 24 months in duration.  CalREN funding will not
exceed 24 months.

CalREN envisions supporting and funding access for
projects in the early stages of ATM development.
Projects should explore activities that deal with the
creation of new products and processes and their
potential for commercial application.  It is intended
that these activities will result in applications
development at the pre-competitive level.  CalREN funded
projects are limited to demonstrations, trials or
pilots.

Public, private, commercial, and non-profit
organizations are eligible to apply for CalREN funding.

I.C.2   Proposal Selection

CalREN will utilize an external council of private and
public industry experts.  The CalREN Council will
review, prioritize, and help approve projects for CalREN
funding according to the criteria in Section II.  CalREN
plans to award approximately twenty-five ATM connections
in LATA I.

During the proposal evaluation process, the CalREN
Council will evaluate many elements of proposed
projects. Where technical evaluations are essentially
equal in merit, cost to CalREN will be considered in
determining the successful offeror.  Generally, CalREN
expects to award one ATM connection per participant.

CalREN expects to receive many more worthwhile proposals
than it can fund. Because of this budget limit, we may
have to decline meritorious projects. This does not in
any way reflect on the value of the idea or organization
involved, but rather is a result of limited resources.


I.D     RESTRICTIONS

I.D.1   General Restrictions

CalREN will fund the installation and monthly service
charge for the Pacific Bell ATM service.

CalREN's support of a project cannot directly cause the
disconnection or deferment of commercial
telecommunications services from any telecommunications
carrier.

The project itself should not directly create an unfair
technological or competitive advantage for one company
or small group of companies.

Proposals that involve final product development beyond
the stage of product prototype/feasibility
demonstrations will be regarded as out of scope.

Projects should limit their scope to demonstration or
proof of concept tests.  Production network deployment,
generally, is outside the scope of CalREN.

(Example: Two projects are presented for remote X-
Ray diagnosis. The first project involves 12
doctors or institutions from different disciplines
who wish to deploy a 12 end-user network to test a
remote X-Ray networking application. The second
project involves a similar application, but 200 to
300 end-users would be involved. The second
proposal would be perceived as a production
network, too large for a test, and would therefore
be out of scope for CalREN funding.)

CalREN and Pacific Bell assumes no liability for costs
associated with the preparation or submission of
proposals.

There is no commitment by CalREN to make any awards on
any application or to make a specific number of awards.

1.D.2   Proprietary Information

CalREN and Pacific Bell assume no liability for
disclosure of proprietary information.  Do not include
any proprietary information in your proposals such as
trade secrets, proprietary commercial or financial
information, or confidential personal information.

Information contained in unsuccessful proposals will
remain the property of the proposer.  CalREN and Pacific
Bell will, however, retain copies of all proposals.


----------------------------------------------------
CalREN RFP Summary:

This is the first RFP for solicitation of CalREN
projects.

Geography:      San Francisco Bay Area

Target Service: Asynchronous Transfer Mode-ATM

Issue Date:     September 3, 1993

Submission Dates:  Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, 1993

Implementation: Staggered during first six months
of 1994
----------------------------------------------------

CalREN will solicit additional proposals as
follows (timelines TBD):

        o ATM access for the Greater Los Angeles Area

        o Education access for S.F.. and L.A..
          (SMDS, Frame Relay, Centrex IS, SDS-IS,
           SDS-56)

        o Health care access for S.F. and L.A.
          (SMDS, Frame Relay, Centrex IS, SDS-IS,
           SDS-56)

        o Community, Gov. and Commercial services
        access S.F. and L.A. (SMDS, Frame Relay,
        Centrex IS, SDS-IS, SDS-56)



II.     PROJECT GUIDELINES & CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria.

II.A  PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Projects must be described in terms of proposed
applications which require a significant high-speed data
communications component, specifically ATM access
bandwidth of DS-3 (44.736 Mbps) or OC3c (155.52  Mbps).
Project applications should support one or more of
CalREN's goals stated in the introduction. Additionally,
the project should stimulate the advancement of the
growth, integration, consumption and productization of
ATM-based applications.

Projects will be considered primarily on the basis of
the quality of the proposed activity to be undertaken.
However, each ATM project must clearly contain the
requirement for ATM-speed connections to at least one
pair of end-users. Activities which merely use the ATM
backbone links to derive lower speed services are not
being sought.

Projects need to address a specific and
identifiable application(s). Examples of projects may be
applications that advance ATM-based services and
infrastructure use for:

        o Education
        o Health Care
        o Improved business and governmental processes
        o Environmental monitoring
        o Control and distribution of intelligence
        o Advanced manufacturing processes
        o Stimulation of commercial product development

This list should not be considered all inclusive.
CalREN will consider projects in other areas.

Generally, approved projects should be demonstration,
proof of concept, prototype, trial, or pilot in nature
and scope.  CalREN seeks new and innovative applications
as well as projects which extend the availability of an
existing application, product or process to a new or
expanded set of users.



II.B  PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

CalREN encourages intra-industry and inter-industry
collaboration and cooperation. Generally, multiple
organization participation is expected.  Team projects
are promoted because they:

o       Permit small companies to gain access to advanced
technology and resources
o       Provide an environment for standards-setting
activities
o       Allow participants to leverage their resources with
others
o       Provide an environment for users and suppliers to
forge closer relationships than those in the typical
customer-vendor relationship

Participants must contribute to the project in one or
more ways.  Proposals need to identify key personnel and
specify each participant's contribution. Contribution
examples include: funds, in-kind services, equipment,
applications, applications development, personnel, or
other (non-Pacific Bell) communications service.

CalREN reserves the right to consolidate ATM services
for a single organization which submits multiple
proposals.  For example, an organization has multiple
departments all located in a single campus.  The X-Ray
division submits a medical proposal and the video
division submits a teleconferencing proposal.  Both
projects are approved.  CalREN would look to provision a
single ATM line for both divisions to share.

Organizations with multiple submissions for CalREN
projects will be required to designate a coordinator or
single-point-of-contact for the entire organization.
This contact would typically be the organization's
Telecommunications or Information Systems Manager.


II.C  EXPECTED BENEFITS

Proposed projects must clearly identify the expected
benefits that will be delivered at the conclusion of the
project.  Projects may have direct benefits or may
demonstrate potential benefits.  Proposals must include
how the benefits will be measured, documented and
distributed.

The proposal should target a clearly defined population
of beneficiaries.  A description of the target
population, its size, needs and demographic
characteristics should be included in the proposed
project.

All the results and developments of a project need not
be in the public domain.  Portions of a project may be
proprietary and the rights may be solely owned by one or
more participants.  Proposals must clearly distinguish
the public and proprietary portions.  A balance of
proprietary information protection and intellectual
property rights protection should be agreed upon among
the participants.  Pacific Bell and CalREN do not
request or require rights to any project development.

II.D  PROJECT LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT PLAN

The proposal must set forth plans for proper
organization, staffing, and management of the activity
and must demonstrate that the leadership of the activity
has the requisite experience to assure success.

Each project must have a designated project leader.
Generally, projects should be lead by the applications
developer.  Pacific Bell and CalREN will not formulate
or lead projects.  The project leader and participants
should provide information on their leadership
experience.  Success in other collaborative projects is
a positive factor in proposal review.

Projects must have well-defined objectives, measurable
milestones and time frames.  CalREN seeks projects of
twelve to twenty-four months duration, measured from the
installation date.  The duration of the project should
be long enough to develop, implement and measure the
benefits of the proposed application.

The project management plan must have a clear statement
of work. This plan needs to provide a detailed
description of the applications development work.  The
plan should be a substantial portion of the total
proposal.  Describe the participant's approach for
carrying out the proposed activity.  List well-defined
objectives, measurable milestones and time frames. State
expected project start and completion dates.  Include
the expected connection date of the requested ATM
services.


III.       PROPOSAL PROCESS


III.A   PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

CalREN's objective is to have the first ATM projects up
and running in the Bay Area by the end of 1993 with
subsequent projects implemented by July, 1994.  CalREN
will accept proposals as early as November 1, 1993, and
as late as December 15, 1993.  CalREN may approve and
award early submissions.  The staggered acceptance dates
are designed to balance cost, scheduling and quality
issues.  The ATM RFP timeline provides for early
acceptance and implementation of projects which are
relatively quick to formulate, while not precluding
those which may take longer to assemble.


ATM RFP Timeline

ATM RFP  issued                                         Sept. 3, 1993
Briefing Session
        San Francisco Airport Hilton            Sept. 23,1993
        San Francisco Intern'l Airport          10:00 - 12:00

First date to submit                            Nov. 1, 1993
Last date to submit                                     Dec. 15, 1993
Approvals will be no later than         Feb. 15, 1994





o       Proposals should be limited to 25
pages including the Executive Summary.
A maximum of 10 pages may be included
in attachments.

o       Please submit 5 copies to:

The CalREN Program
c/o Pacific Bell
2600 Camino Ramon, Room 3S - 306
San Ramon, CA 94583

o       Proposals received after 5:00 pm on
December 15, 1993 will not be considered.

o       Receipt of proposals will be acknowledged.



CalREN plans to hold a briefing session from 10:00 am to
12:00 noon on September 23, 1993 to answer any questions
about CalREN or this Request for Proposal.  Attendance
at this meeting is not required and is not necessary to
develop a promising proposal.  The meeting will be held
at the San Francisco Airport Hilton at the San Francisco
International Airport.


III.B   PROPOSAL FORMAT

The project proposals must follow the format outlined
below, including use of the section and subsection
numbering:

SECTION 1:   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY; (2 Pages)

This executive summary will be evaluated based on its
merit before the remainder of the technical proposal and
will be influential in the early identification of high
interest offerings.

CalREN plans to make public the executive summaries of
approved projects.


1.a  Project Title

1.b  Project Description

Enumerate the project's specific objectives and
summarize the anticipated benefits of the proposed
application.

1.c  Project Use of ATM Services

Describe how the ATM services will be used.  Identify
the requested ATM services by location.  Include access
speed and requested service duration (12 -24 months).
The number and duration of the ATM services must be
justified in the body of the proposal.  [Note that the
price of the ATM services do not need to be stated.]

1.d  Project Leader and Participants

Identify the project leader including their name,
address, telephone number and organizational
affiliation.  Identify key personnel who will be
collaborating in the project.

1.e  Project Plan

Provide a summary of the work plan to be undertaken. The
summary should indicate what is planned, how and where
the work will be carried out, a schedule of major
milestones, and when the final product (such as a final
report) is to be delivered.



SECTION 2:       BODY OF THE PROPOSAL


2.a  PROJECT DESCRIPTION

2.a.i   Project Title

2.a.ii  Project Application

Fully describe the project and the target
application(s).  Specify the project's objectives.
Justify the scope, duration and use of the requested ATM
services.

2.a.iii Network Configuration

State the physical locations, by street address, where
the ATM access is required (locations in the San
Francisco Bay Area).  State the access speed (DS3 or
OC3c) and the requested service duration (12-24 months).


2.b   PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

2.b.i   Project Participants

List the direct project participants (companies or
institutions).  Outline any additional elements of the
project which support intra-industry and inter-industry
collaboration and cooperation.

2.b.ii  Participant Contributions

State the contribution of each participant and identify
their role in the project.  Contribution examples
include:  funds, in-kind services, equipment,
applications, applications development, personnel, or
other (non-Pacific Bell) communications service.

2.b.iii Project Components

List all major elements of the project (customer
premises equipment, computer equipment, software, and
personnel).   State the estimated cost of the elements,
the source of acquisition (donated, purchased, or
loaned) and whether the element is contingent on other
types of support (such as federal grants).


2.c      EXPECTED BENEFITS

2.c.i   Expected Benefits Summary

State the expected benefits that will be delivered at
the conclusion of the project.  Describe the project's
impact in advancing ATM knowledge and usage.  Outline
the elements of the project applications that support
one or more of CalREN's goals stated in the
introduction.

2.c.ii  Project Beneficiaries

Clearly define the target beneficiaries, their size,
needs, and demographic characteristics.  Provide
documentation supporting the projected beneficiary
population.

2.c.iii Dissemination Plan

Include a plan for broadly disseminating the results of
the proposed activity.  Describe the measurement,
documentation and distribution procedures to be used.

2.c.iv  Final Report

State how the project's findings or final report will be
made available to the public. Identify who will be the
authors of the final report. Intellectual property
clearly defined for retention by project participants in
the application process may be excluded from
publication.


SECTION 3: PROJECT LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT PLAN

3.a     Qualifications of Project Leader

Identify the governing or managing entity with clear
responsibility for performance of the project activity.
Provide information on the project manager's leadership
experience.  Include resume or other relevant
information on the quality and depth of experience of
the project leader in Attachment A.

3.b             Qualifications of Project Participants

Describe qualifications of project participants and key
staff members (supporting documentation can be included
in Attachment A).  Provide evidence of the effectiveness
of the participants in similar kinds of activities,
including high performance communication technology and
application commercialization.  Include any letters of
support from other project participants or supporters in
Attachment B.

3.c             Project Management Plan

Indicate what is planned, how and where the work will be
carried out, a schedule of milestones, and the final
product to be delivered. The methods planned to achieve
each objective or task should be discussed explicitly
and in detail.  The  anticipated results of the
application if the project is successful should be
stated.


SECTION 4:  ATTACHMENTS TO PROPOSAL
                        (Maximum of 10 pages)

A:  Resume or qualifications of project participants and
key staff members

B:  Letters of support from other project
participants/supporters

C:  Other supporting materials as appropriate