Wholesale Superfast Broadband Tender
Superfast Berkshire’s broadband programme (led by West Berkshire District Council) is working to extend coverage of super-fast broadband (greater than 24 Mbs) across Berkshire.
United Kingdom-Newbury: Telecommunications network
2014/S 246-434238
Contract notice
Services
Directive 2004/18/EC
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)
West Berkshire District Council
Council Offices, Market Street
Contact point(s): ICT and Corporate Support
For the attention of: Colin Batchelor
RG14 5LD Newbury
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 1635519114
E-mail: cbatchelor@westberks.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
General address of the contracting authority: http://www.westberks.gov.uk
Address of the buyer profile: http://www.mytenders.org/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0303
Electronic access to information: www.mytenders.org
Electronic submission of tenders and requests to participate: www.mytenders.org
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2)Type of the contracting authority
I.3)Main activity
I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: yes
Reading Borough Council
Wokingham Borough Council
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Bracknell Forest Borough Council
Slough Borough Council
Section II: Object of the contract
II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:
II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance
Service category No 5: Telecommunications services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: Areas classified as white and possibly ‘conditional’ white as defined in Berkshire’s State Aid Intervention areas approved by the National Competency Centre (NCC) at Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).
NUTS code UKJ11
II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)
Superfast Berkshire’s broadband programme (led by West Berkshire District Council) is working to extend coverage of super-fast broadband (greater than 24 Mbs) across Berkshire, in areas beyond the reach of commercially-funded deployments which are unlikely to be covered without public intervention. This procurement requires a wholesale broadband network solution providing wholesale broadband services that retail service providers can use to provide business consumers, residential consumers, and public sector organisations with a range of broadband services for the term. The proposed solution must comply with the BDUK Technology Guidance and must deliver the following: a wholesale broadband service that will be open to all service and communications providers on a non-discriminatory basis for at least 7 years from last installation or 31.12.2024 whichever is the latest;
a wholesale broadband service which makes available the greatest download and upload access speeds (data throughput) to greater than 95 % of West Berkshire, Reading, Royal Borough Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell and Slough premises with reference to the Berkshire’s State Aid Intervention area map, (equating to up to approximately 31,000 additional premises within a defined intervention area) by the end of 2024. These areas have been identified by the most recent Open Market Review (OMR) issued in July 2014 and State Aid Public Consultation process issued in September 2014 by Superfast Berkshire and will be approved by BDUK’s completed by National Competency Centre.
Indicative subsidy funding by the Council and BDUK of up to 4 150 000 GBP is to be used as gap funding, as necessary to maximise coverage. The Contractors will be expected to provide substantial investment in the network, and to own and manage the risks associated with developing and operating a wholesale broadband network, including but not limited to take-up risk.
Where appropriate solutions can be found, the project intends to offer contracts to provide super-fast broadband services that are Next Generation Access (NGA) compliant to those premises within the areas classified as white or ‘conditional’ white in Berkshire’s State Aid Intervention area.
Further guidance on the characteristics for qualifying NGA technologies is available from the BDUK National Competency Centre.
Note: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the myTenders Web Site athttp://www.myTenders.org/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=145472
The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available athttp://www.myTenders.org/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx
Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.
II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100, 32412000, 32412110, 32413000, 32424000, 32430000, 32428000, 32500000, 32510000, 32523000, 32524000, 32570000, 32571000,64200000, 32420000, 32521000, 32522000, 64227000, 45314300, 32531000, 45232300, 32425000, 32562200, 45232332, 50330000, 50332000,45231600, 50334400, 51300000, 64210000, 72315000, 72400000
II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
II.1.8)Lots
Tenders may be submitted for one or more lots
II.1.9)Information about variants
II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
West Berkshire District Council reserves the right not to enter into any agreement or award any contract as a result of this notice and to vary or change or not proceed with this competition at any stage of the procurement process. West Berkshire District Council shall not be responsible for any costs, charges or expenses incurred by any applicant responding to this notice.
Estimated value of contracts excluding VAT: up to 4 150 000 GBP
Also see Outline Requirement in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.
II.2.2)Information about options
Description of these options: It may be possible that additional funding becomes available to extend super-fast coverage across the Intervention Area during the period of this contract. Should such additional funding become available, then this will be brought into this agreement via the Change Control Procedure. Any decision to include additional funding to this agreement shall be at the sole discretion of West Berkshire District Council.
Such additional funding may include
a) the ability to proceed with award of contracts in Slough Borough Council and Bracknell Forest Council currently representing the last 2 lots with no allocated funding.
b) the ability to proceed with award of contracts in West Berkshire, Royal Borough Windsor & Maidenhead and Wokingham with funding from EU Structured Investment funds (EAFRD) administered by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVBLEP).
II.2.3)Information about renewals
Information about lots
Lot No: 1Lot title: NW West Berkshire — Area 1
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Anticipated funding allocation GBP 500 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 10Lot title: Slough Borough Council
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Current funding allocation GBP 0 (zero).
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 2Lot title: NE West Berkshire — Area 2
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Anticipated funding allocation GBP 428 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 3Lot title: SE West Berkshire — Area 3
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Anticipated funding allocation GBP 1 618 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 4Lot title: SW West Berkshire — Area 4
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Anticipated funding allocation GBP 404 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 5Lot title: West Berkshire (Areas 1 to 4 inclusive) — Super Lot covering above Lots 1,2, 3, and 4.
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Anticipated funding allocation GBP 2 950 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 6Lot title: Reading Borough Council Area
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Funding allocation GBP 382 500.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 9Lot title: Bracknell Forest Council
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Current funding allocation GBP 0 (zero).
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 8Lot title: Wokingham Borough Council
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Funding allocation GBP 486 000.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Lot No: 7Lot title: Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
1)Short description
2)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)
32412100
3)Quantity or scope
Funding allocation GBP 327 500.
4)Indication about different date for duration of contract or starting/completion
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
III.1.4)Other particular conditions
Description of particular conditions: As per the Conditions of Contract stated within the tender documents.
III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
III.2.2)Economic and financial ability
III.2.3)Technical capacity
Candidates will be assessed in accordance with Regulation 25 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006. Please refer to the PQQ for further information.
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: Subject to organisations passing the full PQQ evaluation in relation to economic and financial standing, the Council will only invite to tender between 5 & 9 organisations that have scored the highest on the evaluation of the Technical Questionnaire provided with the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.
IV.2.1)Award criteria
IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction
IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:
IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.2)Information about European Union funds
Reference to project(s) and/or programme(s): Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership are expected to allocate monies from their share of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) towards super-fast broadband expansion in their Strategic Economic Plan. Further information will be contained in the tender documents.
VI.3)Additional information
2. It is proposed that solutions will be evaluated on a ‘technology neutral basis’ providing they are NGA compliant but will take into account the initial evaluation criteria of long term technical merits of the solution, value for money for the public sector, number of premises that can access the super-fast broadband solution, the level of local demand and geographical coverage. Contracts will be awarded based on a set of evaluation criteria set out in the tender document and reflecting these objectives.
3. Applicants must register on the Council’s Procurement Portal — http://westberks.mytenders.org Once registered candidates will be able to download the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).
4. Once an applicant is registered, all communication in respect of this procurement must be submitted via the Procurement Portal.
5. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that it complies with all of the requirements set out in the PQQ. Failure to submit a compliant PQQ response before the response deadline (12:00 on 19.1.2015) will result in exclusion from the procurement process. Applicants are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response via the Procurement Portal well in advance of the deadline to avoid any last minute problems. The postbox closes precisely at the time stated and no late submissions will be accepted.
6. Consortia applications are permitted.
7. Any change in the identity, control of or relationships within an applicant (including any change in the membership of a consortium) or any member of a consortium that occurs after your PQQ response has been submitted, must be promptly notified in writing to the Council. The Council may, in its absolute discretion, decide that the changes disqualify/preclude the applicant from any further participation in the procurement process. The Council reserves the right to request such further information as it considers reasonably necessary in relation to any change that comes to its attention.
8. The Council reserves the right to disqualify any applicant where, in its absolute discretion, it believes that there is any actual or potential conflict of interest if the applicant takes part in the procurement process and/or should the applicant be successful in this procurement process. Actual or potential conflicts of interest include those that come to the Council’s attention other than as a result of you notifying us of those conflicts. All such actual or potential conflicts must be resolved to the Council’s satisfaction in order for the Council to consider you remaining as part of the procurement process. Failure to declare any conflict and/or failure to address such conflicts to the reasonable satisfaction of the Council may result in you being disqualified. You accept a continuing obligation throughout the procurement process to notify the Council of any changes, which includes any new actual or potential conflicts arising.
9. Please note that conflicts of interest can include (without limitation):
a. conflicts that arise from professional or personal connections between you or your staff and the Council or any of the Council’s staff; or
b. situations where you are connected to multiple PQQ responses including (without limit) a response in your own name and as a subcontractor and/or as a consortia member.
10. In the event of a dispute as to whether any matter gives rise to an actual or potential conflict the Council’s decision is final.
11. Applicants should note that the Council reserves the right to:
a. Cancel this procurement at any stage;
b. Not to award a contract;
c. Accept all or part of any tender unless the applicant/bidder expressly stipulates otherwise;
d. Make any changes it sees fit to the procurement process;
e. Disqualify any applicant found to have misrepresented the facts in relation to its responses to any question within the PQQ response;
f. Remove and/or amend element(s) from scope of the requirements; and/or
g. Seek clarification or verification from an applicant/bidder at any time during the procurement process (but is under no obligation to do so).
12. In no circumstances will the Council be liable for any costs incurred by applicants associated with this procurement process.
13. During the tender period, tenderers will be required to maintain the tender for a period of 3 months from the date stated for receipt of tender.
14. The individual local authority funding is as follows:
— West Berkshire Council, GBP 2 950 000,
— Wokingham Borough Council, GBP 486 000,
— Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, GBP 327 500,
— Reading Borough Council, GBP 382 500,
— Bracknell Forest Council, GBP 0 (zero),
— Slough Borough Council, GBP 0 (zero).
(MT Ref:145472).
VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures
West Berkshire District Council
Head of Legal Services, Market Street
RG14 5LD Newbury
UNITED KINGDOM
VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice: