The Quilt, a consortium of regional Research and Education (R&E) Networks throughout the United States, today announced that request for proposals (RFP) for the 2020 Commodity Internet Services (CIS) program are now open through Feb. 19.
Our goal is to identify those providers who, through their IP transit Internet service offerings and world class customer support, are willing and able to be partners in the delivery and development of our research and education networks throughout the United States. The Quilt Community collectively purchases 1.5 terabytes of committed commodity bandwidth from Authorized Quilt Providers established from The Quilt’s 10th RFP effort in 2018.
The intent of this RFP, according to Quilt President and CEO Jen Leasure, is to identify and contract with CIS providers which recognize the wealth of opportunities that exist through constructive partnerships with The Quilt and the research and education networking community.
“We will look to our approved commodity Internet services providers for pricing discounts appropriate to our levels of bandwidth consumption,” said Jen Leasure, president and CEO of The Quilt. “We seek provider partners who are not only able to provide the best value, but are also at the forefront of technology and are willing to work closely with our members to develop and expand technology beyond that of a standard provider-customer relationship.”
The Quilt’s 2020 Commodity RFP Schedule and key milestones can be found here.
The components of the 2020 RFP are linked here and include:
If you have any questions regarding the documents or RFP process, please contact Sharon Akkoul. Any additional questions, please contact Jen Leasure.