Vendors vying to win NTIA’s contract to run the DTV coupon progra...
Vendors vying to win NTIA’s contract to run the DTV coupon program have had about three months to cool their heels since submitting their bids in early May, but there will be little rest after the contract is awarded…
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next week. The winning vendor faces one tight deadline after another to get the program rolling, with little wiggle room in the schedule. NTIA has said it will pick a vendor and award the contract Aug. 15. On Jan. 1, the law requires that the vendor be ready to begin accepting consumer requests for coupons. In between, the vendor must produce a multitude of “deliverables” -- including a startup plan, retailer training manuals and security materials -- on a grueling schedule. Missing the deadlines would put the coupon program woefully behind schedule, raising the ire of Democrats in Congress who have vowed tough oversight. To keep the process moving, NTIA designed the contract as a “performance-based” procurement. When the vendor meets specified program “milestones,” as NTIA calls them, that’s when the vendor gets paid.