PRESS

CONTRACT NOTICE

Services

This contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): Yes.
SECTION I: CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

 I.1)

Official name and address of the contracting authority:  
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Att: Mr Neil Mackinnon, Cowan House, Inverness Retail and Business Park, UK-Inverness IV2 7GF  . Tel.:  01463 234171. Fax:  01463 244469.

 I.2)

Address from which further information can be obtained:  
Atkins Telecoms, Att: Mr Neil Watt, ICT&S, Clifton House, Clifton Place, UK-Glasgow G3 7YY  . Tel.:  0141 332 7030. Fax:  0141 342 2962. E-mail: neil.watt@atkinsglobal.com. URL: www.atkinsglobal.com.

 I.3)

Address from which documentation may be obtained:  
Atkins Telecoms, Att: Mr Neil Watt (Project Manager), ICT&S, Clifton House, Clifton Place, UK-Glasgow G3 7YY  . Tel.:  0141 332 7030. Fax:  0141 342 2962. E-mail: neil.watt@atkinsglobal.com. URL: www.atkinsglobal.com.

 I.4)

Address to which tenders/requests to participate must be sent:  
Atkins Telecoms, Att: Mr Neil Watt (Project Manager), ICT&S, Clifton House, Clifton Place, UK-Glasgow G3 7YY  . Tel.:  0141 332 7030. Fax:  0141 342 2962. E-mail: neil.watt@atkinsglobal.com. URL: www.atkinsglobal.com.

 I.5)

Type of contracting authority:  
Other.

SECTION II: OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT

 II.1)

Description

 II.1.1)

Type of works contract:

 II.1.2)

Type of supplies contract:

 II.1.3)

Type of service contract  
Service category: 27.

 II.1.4)

Framework agreement:  
No.

 II.1.5)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:  
Connected Communities Management Agency.

 II.1.6)

Description/object of the contract:  
The Western Isles Connected Communities Network is designed to deliver high performance broadband connectivity to businesses, residential subscribers and public sector organisations located throughout the Islands of Lewis, Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra.
Utilising Radio as the predominant transmission technology, the communications infrastructure comprising high and medium capacity digital microwave links will form a backbone network spanning the Islands, linking various community nodes back to a central hub site in Stornoway, Lewis. At each community node, fixed broadband wireless access technology will provide high, medium and low bandwidth connectivity for the various user groups. The hub site provides connectivity to the Internet and onward switching of public sector traffic to their respective nodes in Stornoway via fibre optic links.
The contracting authority, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced companies to provide for the continuing operational management of the network. The successful Management Agency will be required to provide the following services:
Liaison with major stakeholders (Western Isles Council, NHS and Western Isles Enterprise).
Financial Control (to include inward and outward billing and reporting).
Asset Management.
Contract Management of all equipment suppliers and service providers to the network.
Monitoring, Control and Reporting of SLA's.
Implementation, operation and control of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application.

 II.1.7)

Site or location of works, place of delivery or performance:  
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
NUTS code: UKM44.

 II.1.8)

Nomenclature

 II.1.8.1)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV):  
74873100.

 II.1.8.2)

Other relevant nomenclature (CPA/NACE/CPC):

 II.1.9)

Division into lots:  
No.

 II.1.10)

Will variants be accepted:  
No.

 II.2)

Quantity or scope of the contract

 II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope:

 II.2.2)

Options. Description and time when they may be exercised:

 II.3)

Duration of the contract or time limit for completion:  
36 months from the award of the contract.

SECTION III: LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

 III.1)

Conditions relating to the contract

 III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required:

 III.1.2)

Main terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions:

 III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is awarded:

 III.2)

Conditions for participation

 III.2.1)

Information concerning the personal situation of the contractor, supplier or service provider and information and formalities necessary for the evaluation of the minimum economic, financial and technical capacity required:

 III.2.1.1)

Legal position - means of proof required:

 III.2.1.2)

Economic and financial capacity - means of proof required:  
(1) Presentation of the bidder's balance sheets or extracts from the balance sheets, where publication of the balance sheet is required under the law of the country in which the bidder is established.
(2) A statement of the bidder's overall turnover and the turnover related to similar activities covered by this contract, for the three previous financial years.

 III.2.1.3)

Technical capacity - means of proof required:  
(1) A statement of the bidder's average annual manpower and the number of managerial staff for the past three years.
(2) A statement of the educational and professional qualifications of the bidder's managerial staff and of those persons who will be responsible for carrying out the contract requirements.
(3) A list of the principal deliveries of supplies or services effected by the bidder in the past three years, with the sums, dates and recipients, public or private, involved: (1) where effected to public authorities, evidence to be in the form of certificates issued or countersigned by the competent authority; (2) where effected to private purchasers, delivery to be certified by the purchaser or, failing this, simply declared by the supplier to have been effected.
(4) A list of the works carried out by the bidder over the past five years, accompanied by certificates of satisfactory execution for the most important works. These certificates shall indicate the value, date and site of the works and shall specify whether they were carried out according to the rules of the trade and properly completed. Where necessary, the competent authority shall submit these certificates to the contracting authority direct.

 III.3)

Conditions specific to services contracts

 III.3.1)

Provision of the service is reserved to a specific profession:  
No.

 III.3.2)

Legal entities required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for execution of the contract:  
Yes.

SECTION IV: PROCEDURE

 IV.1)

Type of procedure:  
Restricted.

 IV.1.1)

Candidates already selected:  
No.

 IV.1.2)

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure:

 IV.1.3)

Previous publication concerning the same contract

 IV.1.3.1)

Prior information notice concerning the same contract:

 IV.1.3.2)

Other previous publications:

 IV.1.4)

Envisaged number of suppliers which will be invited to tender:  
Minimum: 5 - Maximum: 10.

 IV.2)

Award criteria:  
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of:
Criteria as stated in contract documents.

 IV.3)

Administrative information

 IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the file by the contracting authority:

 IV.3.2)

Conditions for obtaining contract document and additional documents:

 IV.3.3)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate:  
39 days from dispatch of notice. Time: 12:00.

 IV.3.4)

Dispatch of invitations to tender to selected candidates:  
Estimated date: 13.5.2005.

 IV.3.5)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up:  
English.

 IV.3.6)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain its tender:

 IV.3.7)

Conditions for opening tenders

 IV.3.7.1)

Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders:

 IV.3.7.2)

Date, time and place:

SECTION VI: OTHER INFORMATION

 VI.1)

Non-mandatory notice:  
No.

 VI.2)

Indication whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the estimated timing for further notices to be published:

 VI.3)

The contract relates to a project/programme financed by EU funds:  
Yes.
Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme, Priority 2, Measure 2.

 VI.4)

Additional information:  
(MT Ref: 38953).

 VI.5)

Date of dispatch of this notice:  
17.3.2005.