Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
University Of Edinburgh
Charles Stewart House, 9-16 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1HT
Contact
Suzanne Toole
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKM75 - Edinburgh, City of
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00107
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Dark Fiber Maintenance
Reference number
NCA31082
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 32400000 - Networks
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
The University of Edinburgh has a large and disparate estate which relies on connectivity to the university network via dark fiber. This contract is for the maintenance of dark fiber and does not include installation.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £349,577.28
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 32400000 - Networks
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKM75 - Edinburgh, City of
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The University has a large and disparate estate which relies on connectivity to the university via fiber cables. The connectivity is essential for learning and teaching, research, security, door access control and building management. This procurement is for the maintenance and lease of existing dark fiber cables for an initial period of 12 months, with two optional extensions of 12 months.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 50
Price - Weighting: 50
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
two.2.14) Additional information
Please note - as this procurement is an NCA, no quality weighting was required however the system will not allow for this to be null.
This procurement is for an initial period of 12 months and includes the option to extend by two further periods of 12 months.
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- Additional deliveries by the original supplier
Explanation:
The fiber connections includes those that were installed at the Universities request to connect two specific locations, and those installed directly by the University as part of the EasMAN (Metropolitan Area Network), which the university ran for the East of Scotland and are now maintained by Jisc. The cost of the fiber installations has already been incurred and this solely relates to the maintenance. Changing supplier of these fibers would incur additional installation costs for every dark fiber connection. Additionally, there are some locations which can only be delivered by JISC due to requiring a resilient link which is configured to match the primary link allowing traffic to be re-routed seamlessly. The University require the fiber network connections to be provided by one supplier otherwise there would be disproportionate technical difficulties in the operation and maintenance of the service with multiple varying policies to navigate and different escalation paths and contacts. Additionally, the University require a consistent way of monitoring security and service alerts. If there were to be multiple providers of dark fibre connections, this would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in the operation and maintenance of the network as the University would be required to navigate multiple alerting and monitoring systems, different account management and technical and cyber security escalation paths. Jisc provide an over-arching and integrated service for all of the University’s data connectivity. Splitting out the dark fiber contracts would result in additional complexity across technical, security, and account management functions. If there was to be a break in this service then it would impact the internet connection for the entire university through loss of resilience as well as cut service to over 2000 student bedrooms plus significant areas of the University including Western General and Easter Bush campuses plus other key buildings
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2024/S 000-000000
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
NCA31082
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
2 December 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 0
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Jisc
3rd Floor, One Castlepark
Bristol
BS 2 0JA
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKK11 - Bristol, City of
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £349,577
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The contract includes the option to extend for a further two periods of 12 months.
(SC Ref:784717)
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Edinburgh Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court
Sheriff Court House, 27 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LB
Country
United Kingdom