Decision details

To award a contract to Multidata to upgrade current analogue phone lines to broadband in Community Centres and for (pull cord) equipment in Sheltered Housing schemes to meet the digital switchover requirements, together with ongoing maintenance and monitoring.

That the Council awards a contract to Multidata to supply a Broadband service with an on-going maintenance and repair for an initial period of 5 years with the option for an extension for up to an additional 5 years.

The contract value covers a one-off capital investment of £5,915 for the installation of digital lines and equipment consisting of 49 Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOEGA) lines and routers, and an ongoing annual line rental charge of £30,330 for all lines including a 7 hour service restoration provision and filtering software. The on-going costs will be paid for via Service charges to tenants, and the capital costs are in-line with the current capital budget for the project.

Following an open tender process (which is fully compliant with UK procurement and the Council’s Contract Procedural rules). The returned tender was scored independently in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out in the documents provided to the bidding organisations (70% price, 30% quality). The tender prices were scrutinised using soft market testing data to ensure prices were competitive.

Following the tender process, the tender submitted by Multidata was considered to meet all the Council’s requirements to meet current and future tenants needs.

Option 1 – Do nothing. This is not considered a viable option as the digital transition will result in life critical equipment in tenant’s properties ceasing to work. Option not recommended.

Option 2 – Remove all the equipment. We consulted with our tenants on their views about the equipment and the usage that the system had. Most tenants responding to the survey voted for the equipment to remain with an average of over 2000 calls each month. Option not recommended.

Option 3  - Award the contract to an alternative contractor – This is not considered to be appropriate because, following the evaluation process, Multidata Ltd  submitted the most economically advantageous and quality assured tender. Option not recommended.

n/a