Layer 1 Network and Telecommunications Infrastructure Upgrade

As the agency published it

Pinellas County School District - Purchasing has issued request for proposals, solicitation 26-BM-045.

The Pinellas County School District (District) is soliciting sealed electronic bids in response to Layer 1 Network and Telecommunications Infrastructure Upgrade. Bids are due before 4:00 PM on January 4, 2027. Bids may be received up to but not later than, the date and time listed above, via the District e-Procurement Portal located at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/PCSB. The District e-Procurement Portal Clock is the official clock for the determination of all deadline dates and times. Without exception, responses will not be accepted after the submission deadline regardless of any technical difficulties such as poor internet connections. The Pinellas County School District Purchasing Department strongly recommends completing your response well ahead of the deadline. The Pinellas County School District (District) is soliciting competitive proposals from qualified contractors to furnish all labor, materials, equipment, and services necessary for the upgrade and modernization of Layer 1 network and telecommunications infrastructure throughout schools within the District. This includes, but is not limited to, structured cabling, fiber optic backbone systems, horizontal copper cabling, telecommunications distribution frames and all associated pathways, support components and infrastructure materials. The District is seeking bids for Category 2 Internal Connections, specifically for structured cabling installation for 98 school sites, listed in Exhibit A. This is intended to be a multi-year project spanning (at minimum) April 1 st 2027 through June 30 th 2031. Multiple vendors may be awarded this contract and participation in the project. The work will be conducted in two phases: Phase 1 (fiber optic infrastructure) and Phase 2 (horizontal Category 6/6A Ethernet cabling), as described in Section 2.2. This procurement is dependent on E-Rate Category 2 funding, as described in Section 8.6. A Form 470 for this opportunity has been submitted to USAC, and is available on their website. Pinellas County Schools has partnered with OpenGov Procurement which provides government agencies and their suppliers with a comprehensive and easy to use web-based eProcurement system. Registered suppliers receive automatic notification and transmittal of bid solicitations, and there is no charge to register and subscribe to receive PCS solicitation notifications. Please visit https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/pcsb to register and subscribe. Once you have downloaded bid documents from an OpenGov notification you will automatically receive an e-mail notifying you when any addenda are issued or questions posted have been answered. If you obtain our solicitation documents from any other source, we cannot guarantee that you will automatically receive subsequent notifications of addendums. To assure that you are automatically notified, you must visit the above website and download the bid document. The District will not be responsible if you fail to receive any and all addendums if you obtain the original bid document from another source. The district will give consideration to prices established by the State of Florida Department of Management Services, Division of Purchasing through its contracts and negotiated agreement price schedules. The procurement contact for this solicitation is Barbara Molfetta and can be reached at molfettab@pcsb.org. Submit Electronic Responses via the District e-Procurement Portal: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/PCSB

The District operates a large-scale enterprise network spanning multiple school campuses throughout Pinellas County, Florida. The existing telecommunications infrastructure requires systematic upgrading to support current and future data and multimedia services. The District’s published Structured Cabling Specification (Section 27 10 00, current revision July 7, 2026) governs all technical requirements (unless otherwise stated here within) and shall be incorporated by reference into this RFP and any resulting contract. The intent of this upgrade is to install a fully standards-compliant, 10+ Gigabit Ethernet capable infrastructure using fiber optic backbone cabling (OS2 single-mode and/or OM4 multimode), Category 6 horizontal copper cabling, and/or Category 6A cabling — all backed by a 25-year manufacturer performance warranty.

Responses are due January 4, 2027 at 4:00 PM EST.

Questions must be submitted by December 1, 2026 at 4:00 PM EST.

A mandatory pre-proposal conference is scheduled for November 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM EST at Dunedin Elementary School, 900 Union Street, Dunedin, FL 34698.

Commodity categories: Network Components: Adapter Cards, Bridges, Connectors, Expansion Modules/Ports, Firewall Devices, Hubs, Line Drivers, MSAUs, Routers, Transceivers, etc.; Network Components: Adapter Cards, Bridges, Connectors, Expansion Modules/Ports, Firewall Devices, Hubs, Line Drivers, MSAUs, Routers, Transceivers, etc., Environmentally Certified Products; Communication Processors and Protocol Converters: Front-End Processor, Network Interface Module, Protocol Interchange, Switching Controls, etc.; Imaging Systems, Mini and Main Frame Computer (Incl. Digital Imaging Network and Technology); Communications: Networking, Linking, etc. (Includes Clustering Software); Communications: Networking, Linking, etc.; Communications/Telecommunications Cable and Wire; Telecommunication Parts and Accessories (Not Otherwise Classified) (EFFECTIVE 3-1-07 THIS CLASS-ITEM INACTIVATED FOR NEW USE, REFER TO 838-85)).

Contact: Brian Doughty, Director, Network & Telecommunications (doughtyb@pcsb.org, (727) 588-6364).

5 documents are attached to the notice: Layer 1 Project List of Schools; Layer 1 Vendor Award Scenarios - School Lists_Updated_11-3_Attachment B; Layer_1_Pricing_Workbook_Revised_11-5_Attachment C; Protest Procedures; Insurance Specifications for Contractors.

The full solicitation document, addenda and the question-and-answer thread are on the agency's OpenGov portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/pcsb/projects/322666. Responses are submitted electronically there, and a free vendor account is required before you can upload one.

Reproduced from the official notice via OpenGov Procurement - Florida. The agency's page is the one that counts.