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complete
Official procurement procedure
Optical Fibre Time Transfer Hardware
Laboratory
optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
Time relays
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: National Physical Laboratory: "Optical Fibre Time Transfer Hardware". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
| Contracting Authority | National Physical Laboratory | Scope & Categories | Not published | Submission Window | complete No deadline published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submission Gateway | Direct notice route | Legal Basis & Regime | Standard procurement | Estimated Value (exc. VAT) | Not published |
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: National Physical Laboratory
Market Analytics
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for National Physical Laboratory. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Competition Density
3.5Bids / Report
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate availablePayment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Coverage: 59 active published awards; 23 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityNational Physical Laboratory | Procedure methodNot published | Procurement categoryNot published |
Statuscomplete | Framework / DPSNot published | CompetitionNot published |
Above thresholdNot published | Legal basisNot published | Tender period startsNot published |
Clarification deadlineNot published | Electronic submissionNot published | Submission languagesNot published |
Published19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT | Last source update19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT | Recurring procurementNot published |
ClassificationLaboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses), Time relays | ||
Delivery area | ||
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-028bb5 | ||
What is being bought
NPL proposes to award a contract to PikTime Systems for the supply of ELSTAB fibre-optic time and frequency distribution hardware.
What changed
From the official release history
- Status changed to complete
19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT - Official notice release published
19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT - Buyer information updated
19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
- Lot 1 · #1Individual lot title not publishedStatus not publishedPublished valueNot publishedThe requirement is for ELSTAB (electronically stabilised fibre-optic time and frequency distribution) modules and optical distribution amplifiers for use in a time scale application.Contract periodNot publishedEligibilityNot publishedOptions / renewalNot published
Timeline
- Procedure published
19 Jan 2021, 23:08 GMT - Award active
Not published · Not published - Contract active
Signed 19 Jan 2021, 00:00 GMT · £500,000
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards PikTime Systems sp. z o.o. Not published · Not published · active |
Contracts Optical Fibre Time Transfer Hardware £500,000 · signed 19 Jan 2021, 00:00 GMT · active |
Bid statisticsNo aggregate bid statistics published |
Buyer and organisations in this procedure
National Physical Laboratory
Contracting authority GB-FTS-155Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published |
No-engagement rationaleNot published |
Procedure rationaleNPL proposes to award a contract for ELSTAB (electronically stabilised fibre-optic time and frequency distribution) modules to PikTime Systems sp. z o.o.
In its role as the UK’s National Measurement Institute, NPL is developing a new, resilient time scale for national use. The time accuracy and stability, and also the reliability, of the system will depend heavily on the supporting fibre-optic technology employed in its operation. The ELSTAB technology developed by AGH University of Science and Technology, for which PikTime is the commercial supplier, will therefore be key to the success of the new time scale.
NPL has previously worked collaboratively with AGH University to assess the suitability of ELSTAB for use in the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) space mission. As part of ACES, NPL rigorously tested and evaluated the performance of the University’s ELSTAB technology. This was a time-consuming process which has made it clear that the testing of any alternative technology which might potentially be suitable for NPL’s new application would have serious impacts on our project timings and budget because it couldn’t feasibly be completed in less than 6 months.
NPL has also collaborated on published research with the University, concerning the use of the ELSTAB technology during the development of our caesium fountain primary frequency standard.
PikTime Systems is the only supplier worldwide that can provide technology that NPL has sufficient confidence in to serve in our application. No equivalent product is known to be available from any other source. Alternative technologies are known to be in development around the world but aren’t expected to be launched as commercial products in the short to medium term.
NPL published a Prior Information Notice (2019/S 127-309989) in 2019. There were no expressions of interest from appropriately qualified suppliers. |