Procurement of Global Internet Connectivity Services via a Dynamic Purchasing System

Tender description

The Contracting Authority, on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the British Council (collectively the ‘Partners’), intends to establish a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for the procurement of global internet connectivity services. The Contracting Authority intends to make the DPS available to other UK Central Government bodies. The global internet connectivity services will connect ministerial headquarters and other head offices in the UK with their respective embassies, consulates and other office locations, totalling approximately 500 sites in 175 countries. The FCDO makes no contractual commitment to procure any global internet connectivity services under the DPS. However, significant elements are expected to be called off when the DPS is established (or very shortly thereafter). Important Information for all Potential Suppliers In order to participate and gain access to all documentation in relation to this procurement, potential suppliers should access the FCDO’s e-procurement portal, JAGGAER ONE, available via the below link. URL: https://fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html Once logged in, search for project reference 6334 or pqq_1051 If a potential supplier is not registered on the portal, click the link above to be taken to the home page, click the “Click here to register!” button, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete registration. Registration takes approximately 5 minutes and is free of charge. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Potential suppliers should note that two-factor authentication will be required to access the FCDO’s e-procurement portal, JAGGAER ONE, which requires Google Authenticator to be downloaded onto a mobile device. For more information in relation to two-factor authentication, a guide can be accessed by clicking the link on the home page of the FCDO’s e-procurement portal, JAGGAER ONE. Lot 1: The Partners’ global connectivity requirements are currently provided by a single supplier which has responsibility for the provision of the bulk of the Partners’ local and wide area network requirements. The Partners are disaggregating their connectivity requirements into i) network integration services, the scope of which comprises MPLS and VSAT connectivity, an intelligent routing platform, secure internet gateway and related services and ii) global internet connectivity. The scope of this notice is the proposed procurement of internet connectivity at approximately 500 Partner sites in 175 countries. The FCDO is proposing to establish a DPS for the procurement of global internet connectivity. Potential suppliers can apply to join the DPS at any time following the publication of this Contract Notice. Once the DPS is established, suppliers that have successfully qualified to join the DPS may be invited to take part in a series of procurements for the provision of global internet connectivity at the Partner sites. The size and scope of these future procurements have not yet been established by the Partners, but the FCDO anticipates that the first procurements will take place in the late summer of 2021. The network integration service is the subject of a separate procurement. The contract notice for the network integration service, reference 2020/S 106-258337, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 3rd June 2020. The FCDO has produced a descriptive document that provides further information on the Partners and their global connectivity requirements. Additional information: The FCDO will be the Contracting Authority, acting on behalf of the Partners, and it intends to make the DPS available to other UK Central Government bodies.