[Protest Alleging Incumbent Contractor Has Unfair Advantage Under Air Force RFP]

A firm alleged that an incumbent contractor had an unfair advantage in competition under a request for proposals (RFP) issued for telephone services at an Air Force base and that the Air Force should be required to take steps to equalize this advantage. The firm also contended that the RFP did not establish different bases of evaluation for new and used equipment. GAO held that, unless an incumbent contractor's competitive advantage is the result of preferred treatment or other unfair action by the Government, an agency issuing a solicitation need not take steps to equalize the advantage. GAO also held that, if an RFP permits the proposal of used equipment, the agency need not consider age of equipment as a separate factor, since reliability and maintainability would be considered in the evaluation process in any case. Accordingly, the protest was denied.