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Provision of a Telecommunications service for the Emergency Services of England, Scotland and Wales

Communications network
Telecommunications services
UK
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police): "Provision of a Telecommunications service for the Emergency Services of England, Scotland and Wales". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
Contracting AuthoritySecretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police)Scope & CategoriesNot publishedSubmission Window
complete
No deadline published
Submission GatewayDirect notice routeLegal Basis & RegimeStandard procurementEstimated Value (exc. VAT)Not published
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police)
Market Analytics
View Authority Profile →
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police). These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Requires at least 5 comparable procedures
Competition Density
1Bids / Report
100% of reports have one bid
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate available
Payment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Payment obligations depend on the applicable regime and contract. Consult the official documents.
Coverage: 1 active published awards; 1 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 Unpublished data stays unknown.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 AuthoritySecretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police)
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 2022, 22:45 GMT
Last source update19 Jan 2022, 22:45 GMT
Recurring procurementNot published
ClassificationCommunications network, Telecommunications services
Delivery area
UK
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-030d0f
What is being bought
Provision of a secure, private communications network providing telecommunications for the emergency services of England Scotland and Wales, also providing the ability for the three emergency services to talk to each other and to other public safety organisations.
What changed
From the official release history
  1. Status changed to complete
    19 Jan 2022, 22:45 GMT
  2. Official notice release published
    19 Jan 2022, 22:45 GMT
  3. Buyer information updated
    19 Jan 2022, 22:45 GMT
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
  • Lot 1 · #1
    Individual lot title not published
    cancelled
    Published valueNot published
    The Airwave network is the communications system used by the Emergency Services in Scotland, England and Wales, providing digital radio communications along with other functions such as telephony, text messaging and control room communication services. Airwave services are provided by Airwave Solutions Limited under a Home Office Framework Arrangement
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
Timeline
  1. Procedure published
    19 Jan 2022, 22:45 GMT
  2. Award active
    Not published · Not published
  3. Contract active
    Signed 20 Dec 2021, 00:00 GMT · £1,561,919,689
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards
Airwave Solutions Limited
Not published · Not published · active
Contracts
Public Safety Radio Communications Service
£1,561,919,689 · signed 20 Dec 2021, 00:00 GMT · active
Bid statistics
bids: 1 (lot 1)
electronicBids: 1 (lot 1)
foreignBidsFromNonEU: 1 (lot 1)
Buyer and organisations in this procedure

Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police)

Contracting authority GB-FTS-41377
View buyer profile

  • Scottish Ambulance Service Board
    buyer

    National Headquarters, Gyle Square, South Gyle Crescent, EDINBURGH, UKM, EH12 9EB
    sas.sasprocurement@nhs.scot

  • Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care - DHSC
    buyer

    39 Victoria Street, LONDON, UK, SW1H 0EU
    commercial@arp.nhs.uk

  • Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Fire and Rescue Services)
    buyer

    2 Marsham Street, LONDON, UK, SW1P 4DF
    ESMCPSupplier@homeoffice.gov.uk

  • Secretary of State for the Home Department - Home Office (Police)
    buyer
    centralPurchasingBody

    2 Marsham Street, LONDON, UK, SW1P 4DF
    ESMCPSupplier@homeoffice.gov.uk

  • Airwave Solutions Limited
    supplier

    Nova South, 160 Victoria Street, LONDON, UK, SW1E 5LB

  • ESMCP Programme - Home Office
    reviewBody

    3rd Floor, Clive House, 70 Petty France, LONDON, SW1H 9EX
    ESMCPSupplier@homeoffice.gov.uk
Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No data
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
No data
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Procedure rationaleThe Home Office meets the regulation 32 (2) (b) (ii) test as outlined below: The Airwave network is the communications system used by all the emergency services in Scotland, England and Wales. It is a secure private communications network, using land mobile, TETRA - TErrestrial Trunked RAdio technology, which enables the three emergency services to be able to seamlessly talk to each other (interoperate) during major incidents and also enables them to interoperate with other public safety organisations such as for example the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and mountain rescue teams. The Airwave network is a closed proprietary network owned and operated by Airwave Solutions Limited (a Motorola company). It is made available to the emergency services under four key contracts*(Contracts) made pursuant to the Home Office's PFI Framework Arrangement for the Public Safety Radio Communications Service (the FA). The Airwave network is critical national infrastructure (CNI) and Airwave is the only supplier of this network in Great Britain. No other TETRA network exists in GB nor is it possible for an alternative to TETRA to be developed, established and rolled out in the required timescales to ensure continuity of service demands and the technical and security requirements of the Emergency Services. There is no other suitable network in Great Britain that could be used by the emergency services until the new national Emergency Services Network (ESN) is brought into service. The ESN is intended to be the replacement network for the Airwave network and was originally expected to be developed and rolled out in 2022. There have been significant setbacks and delays in the development of the ESN, including the transition from the Airwave network to ESN. Those setbacks mean that the provision of the Airwave network has to be continued in the interim until the ESN is ready and has been fully tested and validated. The continuity and technical requirements necessitate an extension to the Contracts until 31 December 2026. Given that there is no other possible competitor that could provide an equivalent service to Airwave within the required timescales, trying to organise an accelerated competition would incur additional expenses/resources that would not make any difference to the outcome. *The Contracts are between: 1. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of police access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: £1,333,700,339 2. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of Fire and Rescue Services access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: £141,181,120 3. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Airwave Solutions Ltd for the Ambulance Radio Programme - Contract value for the four year extension period: £83,947,192 4. The Scottish Ambulance Service Board and Airwave Solutions Ltd in respect of Scottish Ambulance Service access to Airwave - Contract value for the four year extension period: £ 3,091,038 Airwave is CNI and, as such, it must remain in place to ensure continuity and security of emergency service communications until ESN is ready to replace it. Until ESN is brought into service, no alternative or substitute network to Airwave exists nor would it be technically or financially feasible to develop a replacement for the emergency services to use in the meantime. Without Airwave, the emergency services would have no suitable communications network to use. This poses a danger to life for individuals as well as a risk to public safety and/or public security if communications between fire, policy or ambulance personnel broke down or became unreliable. Nb: Continued in additional information section due to character restrictions.