[Protest of Army Contract Award Alleging Insufficient Bid Preparation Time]

A firm protested an Army contract award asserting that it was not afforded an equal opportunity to compete due to the short time available to it to prepare a bid. The Army had changed a sole-source procurement to a competitive formally advertised procurement at the request of the protester. However, it only allowed approximately 1 month of preparation time, and the protester submitted a telegraphic bid, which was rejected because the solicitation prohibited telegraphic bids. Bid protest procedures provide that a protest alleging improprieties in a solicitation apparent prior to bid opening must be filed before that time. Since this protest was not filed within this timeframe, it was untimely and not for GAO consideration. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.