Crown Commercial Service (CCS) as the Authority intends to put in place a pan government collaborative agreement for the provision of gigabit capable connectivity services. These will be procured using one of two specifications:
Specification 1: Managed Connectivity Services;
Specification 2: Fibre Infrastructure Services.
The managed connectivity services will require a network connection to be made available between a specified location and services running on the World Wide Web. The services will be offered with flexible bandwidth options using infrastructure that offers download bandwidths of between a lower threshold of at least [100 Mbps] and an upper threshold of at least [1 Gbps].
The fibre infrastructure services will require the provision of the necessary duct, fibre and access infrastructure between two specific locations to allow third party integration into existing network services by the procuring authority or their agent.
The commercial agreement is to be utilised by Central Government Departments and all other UK Public sector bodies, including but not limited to Central Government Departments and their agencies, Non departmental public bodies, Devolved administrations, NHS Bodies and providers of services to the NHS, Local authorities, Police, Voluntary sector, Charities, and/or other private organisations acting as managing agents or procuring on behalf of these public sector bodies.
Where the above bodies require at call-off contract, the agreement will be suitable for the provision of services that:
(i) are PSN-compliant https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/public-services-network and also for the provision of services at lower security levels; or that do not require PSN-compliance;
(ii) are HSCN compliant services https://digital.nhs.uk/health-social-care-network/suppliers;
(iii) comply with the technical requirements prescribed by Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus scheme https://www.cyberessentials.ncsc.gov.uk/
The proposed agreement is expected to be a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). This is to be confirmed within Government following market engagement. The Authority considers that this opportunity may be suitable for economic operators that are Small or Medium Enterprises (SMEs).