Specifications include, but are not limited to: The purpose of the project is to build and maintain a facilities-based, fiber-optic network to service the advanced production and experimental network requirements of the System for its research and educational institutions and affiliates. This infrastructure is considered essential cyberinfrastructure needed to maintain the quality and vitality of the System’s research and education community to compete and collaborate with peers throughout the United States and the world. The System views this as critical not only to their ability to recruit and retain top faculty and students, but also for our region’s ability to lead and participate in high-technology research projects benefitting the Wisconsin economy. Built upon a production quality optical network infrastructure, this infrastructure will support multiple classes of networks. These include a high-capacity production general-purpose networking class, providing access to the Internet, Internet2 backbone, other federal, and international research networks; a production special-purpose research networking class, providing reconfigurable network access on a short-term or project specific basis; an experimental network research class, and providing highly flexible and breakable network access necessary to advance the science of networking. Therefore, the University is preparing this RFB to maintain and augment existing facilities in order to meet the advanced production and experimental network requirements of the System. The University seeks proposals to provide fiber construction or an Indefeasible Right-to-Use (IRU) in various cities, including any construction, any continued maintenance of the fiber where applicable, and the collocation space and other Network Services necessary to operate a network on the fiber IRU: If a provider does not currently have fiber available between, or in, some or all of these locations, but plans to build fiber between, or in, some or all of these locations, please respond accordingly. In this case, you will need to provide, in the appropriate section of your response, the anticipated date construction will commence, the anticipated date the fiber will be available, and if construction is dependent on award of project.
