[Protest of Navy Sole-Source Contract Award]

A firm protested a sole-source contract award to another firm under a Navy solicitation for calibration system components, contending that: (1) the Navy did not afford it an opportunity to compete under the procurement even though it could supply the required items; (2) its discussions with the Navy before the closing date for receipt of responses to the solicitation constituted an oral protest; (3) even if untimely, its protest should be considered because it was late for good cause and raised significant issues; and (4) GAO protest timeliness rules were a device to allow GAO to avoid reviewing protests. GAO held that: (1) the protest was untimely filed because GAO did not receive it before the closing date for receipt of solicitation responses; (2) the discussions before the closing date did not constitute an oral protest because they were informational in nature; (3) the protester did not demonstrate how its protest was late for good cause; (4) the matters presented in the protest did not warrant consideration as significant issues; and (5) its protest timeliness regulations were designed to afford rapid resolution of procurement disputes without undue disruption to the procurement process. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.