EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Expression of Interest for Transition, upgrade and Administration of Dot SL Country Code Top Level
Procurement Number: NATCOM/ ENG/EOI/DOT.COM/2019/001
Date of Issue: 6th December 2019
Procurement of Services
(Transition, upgrade and Administration of Dot SL Country Code Top Level)
- Background:
The WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Declaration of December 2003 states that “policy authority for Internet-related public policy issues is the sovereign right of States. They have rights and responsibilities for international Internet-related public policy issues.”
WSIS Plan of action of December 2003 invites “Governments to manage or supervise, as appropriate, their respective country code top-level domain name”.
From the National .sl registry website (www.nic.sl ) it is highlighted that on the 14th day of June 2007, AFCOM has been officially committed by the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) in Sierra Leone to manage the dot sl zone.
Currently, the administrative function of the Sierra Leone Internet domain name registration (.sl ccTLD) is under Mr. Adel Suleiman while Adam Ben-Gur is in-charge of the technical management of the same.
The below delegation record for .SL ccTLD are recorded on the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) database Website.
At the request of the Minister of Information through the Director General of the NATCOM (National Telecommunications Communication), a re-delegation and of dot SL ccTLD from the current ccTLD registry (manager, administrative and technical contact) is urgently needed.
While the Government of Sierra Leone appreciate the good work done by both the .sl ccTLD administrative contact and the technical contact, the task at hand is for a smooth re-delegation of the .sl ccTLD
The views of the Governmental of Sierra Leone are particularly pertinent in fulfilling its role of promoting management of the ccTLD in the public interest.
Re-delegation of dot SL ccTLD is a national issue and taking into account the views of all local stakeholders and the rights of the existing ccTLD Registry.
- Objectives of the ccTLD Registry Service Provider:
Assume primary responsibility for the registry and DNS technology/operations in support of our registry ccTLD (.SL).
In close collaboration with National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) and the Ministry of Information, the general objective of the registry service provider is to develop a top-level domain management that will increase growth in sales, and distribution of the .SL TLD and enable Sierra Leone to reach its full internet use potential.
The specific objectives are:
- Offer a turnkey technical and business service for the .SL ccTLD.
- Plan, Re-Delegation and transition of the ccTLD (.SL)
- Primary and secondary hosting facilities.
- Primarily responsible for the registry and DNS Technology/Operations.
- Host all registry functionality, including Extensible Provisioning Protocol, Internationalized Domain Names, WHOIS/RDAP servers.
- Ensure state of the art security and reliability of .SL ccTLD with safe and secure TLD zones at all times.
- Provide secure, high availability, high capacity centre with global redundant connection points.
- Easy access and service for registrars.
- Aggressively and actively protect the registry system from known threats and vulnerabilities. These include security protocols, policies and procedures to thwart new and evolving threats and vulnerabilities.
- Secure Escrow data to be deposited daily to an agreed server location.
- 24 & X365 registrar customer service and support with highly trained staff
- Support in developing the governing polices for the use of .SL domain
- To train a local team on daily operations of the registry.
- Implementation Duration: 60 days.
- Contract Duration: 10 Years.
- Type of Supervision/support required: The Registry Service provider will receive a briefing at the beginning of assignment, then regular discussions in person and via email.
- Description of assignment:
- Selection process
The ccTLD Registry provider will be identified by NATCOM based on expression of interest and competitive selection. Interested candidates will be asked to fill in an expression of interest form
- Qualification and specialized knowledge/experience required for the assignment:
- ICANN Accredited registrars in one or more generic top-level domains.
- 10 years of relevant experience ccTLDs
- 24 X 7 Customer service and support
- Redundant infrastructure facilities (Data Center, Internet connection, power, air conditioning units
Interested firms should submit with their application three (3) copies of the following:-
- A profile of the firm with registration documents
- The proposed Project Manager/Engineer for the project, with curriculum vitae of key personnel.
- Detailed presentation of similar Service undertaken for the past five years.
- Submit proposed architecture for the above stated procurement venture
- NRA Certificate or evidences of tax payment from Country of operations
- NASSIT tax Clearance or tax documents from Country of operations
Application should be submitted to the:
Procurement Manager
NATCOM
13 Regent Road, Hill station
Freetown
Not later than 2:00p.m 31ST December, 2019. No application will be accepted beyond the stipulated date and time and applications are not allowed to be submitted on line.
Firms whose submissions are accepted will be short-listed and provided with detailed terms of reference for the final detailed submission.