Request for Proposals for Statewide Digital Equity Planning Consulting Services

RFP No.2023-MBI-06

Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (“MassTech”) on behalf of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (“MBI”) is issuing this Request for Proposals for Statewide Broadband Planning Services (the “RFP”) (Solicitation No. 2023-MBI-05) to solicit responses from qualified consultants (“Respondents”) with experience in digital equity planning, community/stakeholder engagement and outreach, project management, and facilitation.

Potential Respondents should note that this new RFP is a scaled-back version of RFP No. 2023-MBI-05, which was withdrawn by MassTech on November 9, 2022. MassTech intends to issue a subsequent RFP requesting consulting services to support MBI’s planning activities that will support the development of a Five-Year Action Plan for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (“BEAD”) Program. Other than the separation of the Digital Equity Act ("DEA") and BEAD planning services and related activities into separate procurements, the core tasks for DEA are substantially similar to the core tasks described in the RFP that was withdrawn. MBI still intends for the DEA and BEAD planning activities to be closely aligned and the respective planning processes should inform each other as they evolve and develop.

Potential Respondents that submitted questions for the RFP that was withdrawn will need to resubmit those questions for inclusion in the Q&A document that will be issued for RFP No. 2023-MBI-06.

Scope of Services

MassTech seeks a range of planning services and technical assistance to support the successful completion of the Statewide Digital Equity Plan and related Community Engagement Services that MBI will undertake to inform the development of both plans – outlined in detail in the Category of Service sections in the RFP. Consultants will be responsible for providing comprehensive project management for all planning activities for which they propose to provide services as described in the following sections.

Proposals may include one consultant or a team of consultants who can deliver services for one or more of the Categories of Service. MBI expects that Respondents will be able to perform all duties associated within the Category or Categories of Service they apply for, however, MBI expects that consultants may need to sub-contract with specialized organizations for community engagement or other technology/technical components of the services. Respondents must indicate in the proposal if they are proposing to use subcontracted services for those additional resources.

• Category of Service 1: Statewide Digital Equity Plan Activities
• Category of Service 2: Community Engagement Activities
• Category of Service 3: Broadband and Digital Equity Working Group​​​​​​

Download RFP Documents:

• Download RFP No.2023-MBI-06
• Download Attachment C - Budget Template
• Download Questions and Answers Document (PDF)