Business and management consultancy services

Tender description

Scottish Government's target is to deliver super-fast broadband to 100 % of premises by 2021. To support this activity in the Highlands and Islands, HIE is looking for specialist support for the next 3 years. This will include supporting the management of contracts which provide fibre broadband beyond commercial roll-out, as well as providing technical, commercial and procurement support for future projects. It will also be responsible for overseeing the management of the Connected Communities network and its integration into the wider Scottish Government/ Digital Highlands and Islands Next Generation Access (NGA) initiatives. This predominantly wireless network is owned and operated by HIE and delivers broadband to parts of the Western Isles. It will also include the day-to-day management of a Field Support Services (FSS) ‘Technical Support’ supplier, contracted by HIE under a separate agreement to the Connected Communities network. It is expected that these services will be required from April 2017 for a period of 3 years, unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Contract, with HIE having the option to extend for a further 1 year period. The estimated value of these services over 3 years is between 550 000 GBP and 688 000 GBP excluding VAT. This is the figure which has been used in 11.2.6. This contract has not been divided into Lots since this would make the execution of the contract excessively technically difficult.