20100917Decision Memo.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KEMPTON
COMMISSIONER SMITH
CO MMISSI 0 NER RED FO RD
COMMISSION SECRETARY
LEGAL
WORKING FILE
FROM:GRACE SEAMAN
DATE:SEPTEMBER 15, 2010
RE:2010 IDAHO TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICE CONTRACT
AWARD; CASE NO. GNR-10-05.
BACKGROUND
The Idaho Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) was established in 1992 pursuant to
Title IV ofthe Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and 47 c.F.R. 64.601(7). The ADA
provision established the requirements to provide access for a communications-impaired person
to send and receive messages to and from a non-communications-impaired person. The Idaho
legislature authorized the Commission to appoint a TRS Administrator to coordinate TRS
services in Idaho Code 9 61-1301. Idaho Code 9 61-1303 outlines the responsibilities of the
TRS Administrator. These responsibilities include: (1) consult with and receive
recommendations from the advisory committee, or a representative thereof, appointed by the
commission pursuant to section 61-1306, Idaho Code; (2) issue a request for proposals (RFP) to
providers of message relay services requesting responsive proposals to provide such services as
may be necessary for the program; (3) evaluate the responsive proposals and recommend one (1)
or more proposals to the commission for its review and approval; and (4) enter into a contract
with the provider ofTRS, which contract and provider have been approved by the commission.
Hamilton Telecommunications is the current TRS service provider and its contract will
expire on December 1 , 2010. Consequently, the TRS Administrator, Mr. Bob Dunbar, prepared
an RFP that was released on May 24, 2010 with a response due date of July 16 2010. At the
request of a bidder, the response date was extended to July 23 , 2010. The term of the new
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 1 -SEPTEMBER 15 2010
contract is for three years with the option of three one-year extensions. Mr. Dunbar received
RFP bid responses from Sprint Relay (Sprint) and Hamilton Telecommunications (Hamilton).
Pursuant to Rule 103, IDAP A 31.46., the telephone industry TRS Advisory Committee
(the Committee) was formed and it was comprised of volunteer representatives from Qwest
Corporation, CenturyLink, and TDS Telecom.
EVALUATION OF THE RFP BIDS
The TRS Administrator, Mr. Dunbar and members of the Committee reviewed and
evaluated each response and evaluation sheets were then compiled by Mr. Dunbar. Each member
of the Committee as well as the Administrator unanimously gave the highest score to Hamilton.
Based on the scores, the Administrator recommends that the Commission approve awarding the
TRS contract to Hamilton.
Hamilton submitted a 36-month contract rate of$1.76 per conversation minute (an
increase of $.26 per minute over the current contract) for the basic relay service as outlined in the
RFP and a rate of $1.76 per conversation minute (an increase of $.16 per minute) for Captioned
Telephone service. Hamilton s price includes all equipment, personnel, facilities, software, and
features and services (i.e. Speech to speech, Spanish and Intrastate Spanish translations to
English relay service and visa versa, True Caller ID, Turbo Code, a complete in-state outreach
program, plus all the features listed in Attachment M of the RFP response). Hamilton will round
the conversation time to the nearest second in its call detail records, and calculations for
invoicing will be rounded to the nearest 100th of a minute. Time billed to the TRS program will
begin when the called party answers after the Hamilton Communications Associate sets up the
call, and it will end when the called party disconnects. Hamilton states that if additional features
or services are required or desired during the term of the contract, Hamilton will provide pricing
for those services to the Commission.
Sprint submitted a 36-month contract rate of $3.12 per minute for basic relay service (or
$2.24 per minute using a Sprint contractor) and $1.82 per conversation minute for Captioned
Telephone Service.
In late August 2010, the TRS Advisory Committee members independently evaluated and
scored the bid responses and delivered the results to Mr. Dunbar. On September 1 , 2010, Mr.
Dunbar submitted a summary ofthe bid evaluations to the Commission. The Committee
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 2 -SEPTEMBER 15 2010
members' average rating of Hamilton was 885.5 out of 1000 possible points and Mr. Dunbar
evaluation was 870 points. In comparison, the Committee members' average rating of Sprint
was 729.50 and Mr. Dunbar s evaluation was 722.50 making Hamilton as the clear winner of the
RFP. Mr. Dunbar concurs with the evaluation results of the Committee. Thus, he recommends
that the TRS service contract be awarded to Hamilton Telecommunications.
ST AFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff believes Hamilton has provided quality service to Idaho relay users and supports the
recommendation of Mr. Dunbar and the Committee. Pricing information also suggests it is in the
public s best interest to award the contract to Hamilton. Staff recommends that the Commission
approve the TRS bid recommendation and direct Mr. Dunbar to begin negotiations to secure a
contract with Hamilton Telecommunications. The term of the contract is three years with the
option for three additional one-year extensions.
COMMISSION DECISION
1. Does the Commission approve the recommendation of the TRS Administrator and the
TRS Advisory Committee to award the TRS bid to Hamilton Telecommunications beginning
December 1 , 201 O?
2. Does the Commission wish to direct Mr. Dunbar to negotiate a three-year contract
with Hamilton Telecommunications with the option of three one-year extensions?
/flOc u ku4L
Grace Seaman
UdmemoslRFP dee.memo
DECISION MEMORANDUM - 3 -SEPTEMBER 15 2010
09-01-
To:President Kempton
Commissioner Smith
Commissioner Redford
From: Bob Dunbar, ITRS Administrator
Subject: Relay Provider Recommendation
The ITRS Telephone Advisory Committee has reported a unanimous
recommendation in favor of awarding Hamilton Telecommunications a new ITRS relay
contract for a period ofthree years, with two additional one year extensions possible.
The three members evaluating the bid are Clint Berry (Qwest), Gail Long (TDS),
and Barbara Young (CenturyLink).
Each member of the Advisory Committee utilized the evaluation method in the
TRS RFP to rate the two responding bidders, Hamilton Telecommunications and Sprint.
The individual scoring follows:
,.,.....
Hamilton
817.
854.
895.
Sprint
722.
666.
800.
I concur with the recommendation ofthe Advisory Committee. My scoring is 870
points for Hamilton and 722.50 points for Sprint.
Both the Telephone Advisory Committee and the ITRS Administrator recommend
awarding the Idaho TRS and CapTel contract to Hamilton Telecommunications of
Aurora, Nebraska. Should you agree, I will immediately begin negotiations with
Hamilton in order to provide continuing relay service beyond our current December 1
2010 contract expiration date.
Should you wish to discuss the relay situation with me, I will be happy to do so at
your convenIence.