BROADBAND SPEED MONITORING HARDWARE

Trade Agreement: WTO-AGP/NAFTA/AIT/Canada FTAs with Peru/Colombia/Panama Tendering Procedures: Generally only one firm has been invited to bid Attachment: None Non-Competitive Procurement Strategy: Government Objectives Representing Best Interests/Value to Govt Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement: No Vendor Name and Address: SamKnows Ltd. 94 New Bond Street United Kingdom W1S 1SJ Nature of Requirements: Broadband Speed Monitoring Hardware File: 82082-15-0011

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to: Benoit Guertin (benoit.guertin@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca) Telephone: 819.956.4479,

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. Definition of the Requirement The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is an administrative tribunal that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada. The CRTC has a duty as the Canadian Telecommunications Regulator to assess the health of the Canadian telecommunications system. One project being undertaken to carry out this duty is the measurement of broadband performance. The information collected and analyzed will be used to develop telecommunications policy that will impact the Canadian telecommunications industry. The CRTC requires a firm that can measure broadband performance through hardware and backend hosted infrastructure. The hardware will be distributed and installed within volunteers homes in Canada and measure and record numerous technical metrics related to the broadband services being provided by Canadian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to consumers. The hardware will continually monitor and report network performance between the home user's router and the demarcation point in an ISPs network. The hardware will monitor the performance in both the "last mile" from the home network to the ISP, as well as the core network of ISPs. The hardware works with a global network of test nodes built using Measurement Labs infrastructure that the devices test against for the purposes of data collection, data processing, data presentation and hardware management. The software does not incorporate any free or open source (F/OSS) code for performance analytics. The firmware on the test hardware runs a custom distribution of Linux (an operating system) with additional features to support performance measurement. 3. Criteria for Assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements) Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product meets the following mandatory requirements:

M1 - The hardware must be able to provide accurate data, suitable for detailed comparisons between Internet service providers. M2 - The hardware must be able to provide complete end-to-end hardware-based network monitoring and reporting, M3 - The hardware must be able to provide a solution that can record, collect, and validate information on a national scale, and have been deployed in previous projects in other jurisdictions (e.g. used by other regulatory agencies) M4 - The hardware must be able to monitor performance regardless of whether or not any computers or devices are on the home network and/or powered on, M5 - The hardware must detect the presence of live traffic (via wired or wireless connections), and only take performance measurements in the absence of such traffic, M6 - The hardware must have been verified by an independent 3rd party such as MIT or the Georgia Institute of Technology, M7 - The collection methodology must be able to be validated by avoiding inconsistencies and variabilities in the collection methodology, M8 - The hardware must be able to avoid bottlenecks such as wireless equipment, misconfigured networks, and older computers M9 - The hardware must be able to handle speeds greater than 100Mbps, M10 - The hardware must be capable of reporting network performance monitoring results on a national scale to a central location M11- The data collected must be able to be benchmarked against data other international telecommunications regulators such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the United Kingdom, the European Commission (EC) within the European Union), IDA in Singapore, and Anatel in Brazil, M12 - The hardware must be able to account for multiple machines on the same network M13 - The hardware must not be affected by the quality and build of the computer or laptop, M14 - The hardware must not be affected by the physical location of the computer or laptop, M15 - The hardware must not interfere with the volunteer's use of their internet connection, M16 - The hardware must not rely on the knowledge, skills, or participation of the volunteer, M17 - The hardware must be compatible with a wide range of DSL and DOCSIS modems that are currently in use by Canadian ISPs M18 - The hardware must not expose the volunteer's PC to increased security risks, M19 - The software running on the hardware must be upgradable from a remote location, M20 - The hardware must alert the supplier and the CRTC of any monitoring interruptions (e.g. disconnection, change of location, etc)

Essential Supplier Supplier Requirements M21 - The supplier must be able to distribute up to 6,200 broadband monitoring hardware units by December 31st, 2015, M22 - The supplier must be able to distribute the broadband monitoring hardware on a an as and when required basis, including shipment to remote locations M23 - The supplier must be able to provide the CRTC a license to access and use the data to develop its own reports when desired, license to use the monthly reports developed by the supplier, and license to allow the CRTC to publish information and findings to the Canadian public, M24 - The supplier must be able to conduct network performance monitoring on a national scale, and have previous experience in executing such projects for a national communications regulator in another jurisdiction

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement: This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s): Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT); World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP); North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Canada Free Trade with Columbia, Panama and Peru. 5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier Canada considers Sam Knows to be the only known hardware provider to meet all of the above requirements.

6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s) The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work".

7. Period of the Proposed Contract and Delivery Date The proposed contract is from contract award up to and including December 31, 2015.

8. Name and Address of the Pre-Identified Supplier SamKnows Ltd., 25 Harley St., London, W1G 9BR, United Kingdom

9. Suppliers' Right to Submit a Statement of Capabilities Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

10. Closing Date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is 2014/12/29 at 14h EST.

Delivery Date: Above-mentioned

You are hereby notified that the government intends to negotiate with one firm only as identified above. Should you have any questions concerning this requirement, contact the contracting officer identified above.

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows departments and agencies to post a notice, for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that it intends to award a good, service or construction contract to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein, may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

The PWGSC file number, the contracting officer's name and the closing date of the ACAN must appear on the outside of the envelope in block letters or, in the case of a facsimile transmission, on the covering page.

The Crown retains the right to negotiate with suppliers on any procurement.

Documents may be submitted in either official language of Canada.