England’s Connected Heartland Framework - PIN Notice

The purpose of this PIN is to alert potential bidders to an opportunity in respect of services likely to be procured. Oxfordshire County Council intends to procure a supplier of 5G Networks and associated services on behalf of the England’s Connected Heartland partners and to establish a Framework through which Call-Offs can be made for specific business needs. The supplier will provide the survey, design, implementation and operation of a hybrid 5G and advanced wireless network and the delivery of use cases on the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus. The planned procurement will cover the following activities: • survey, design, construction, installation and testing of the private 5G networks • solutions to address the core identified use cases, associated benefits & costs savings • integration of the use case technology with the established 5G private network • network capacity for growth in data consumption to enable delivery of further use cases through expansion of the scope over time • support the campus and its tenants to implement the use cases • supplying the necessary hardware, software and devices to support the network and the use cases • ongoing maintenance & support • participation in regional showcase events and development of playbooks to encourage wider use and adoption The opportunity will be open to all suitably qualified bidders able to deliver the requirements over the long term, either as single suppliers or as a prime contractor using subcontractors to deliver some of the elements. The council intends to issue an invitation to tender in April 2024 with a view to awarding a contract in June 2024. In the first calloff contract, the supplier will deliver a 5G Mobile Private Network at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus by the end of March 2025. There may be opportunities to expand the scope of services at the campus and/or additional sites during the contract term if further funding becomes available. Further information can be obtained from the Council’s procurement portal at sebp.due-north.com. An online market information webinar will be held 09.00-10.00 on 9th April 2024. All potential bidders are invited to attend to hear and discuss the ECH 5G Innovation Region’s current procurement plans for the 5G Science & Innovation Campus Project, to ask questions, and to suggest improvements that could be made to the plans. Potential bidders wishing to attend the webinar can do so by pasting the following link into a browser page and registering. https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/bde52d84-f760-409f-a602-d62eb6943528@f05d39da-26ec-4eea-b8eb-9ff1a682d5e5 The Council will also provide an opportunity for short 1:1 discussions, so that commercially sensitive topics may be addressed privately. These private sessions will be conducted to the same agenda, with each organisation given equal access time to the Council. To participate in a 1:1 session, potential bidders are asked to register by submitting a response form, provided in the supplementary document “Supplier Response Template v1.0”, through the Council’s procurement Portal at sebp.due-north.com. Potential Bidders may submit clarification questions through the Portal at any time up to 12th April 2024.