Borderlands 5G Innovation Region

On behalf of the Borderlands 5G Innovation Region (Borderlands 5GIR), Cumberland Council (the Council) will procure a contract for a Supplier to install and operate a 5G mobile private network managed service across five venues region wide, with the possibility to extend the network to further venues during the term. \r

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Suppliers wishing to express an interest and obtain access to the tender documents should go to www.the-chest.org.uk and click on current opportunities from the navigation area on the left of the screen. On the next screen enter the contract Reference (DN712448) in the box labelled 'contains' then click search. Click on the Blue link for the contract title to view the opportunity. \r

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To express an interest you will need to login. If you are not already registered on the www.the-chest.org.uk you will need to return to the home page and click on Register. Register free link in the navigation area on the left of the screen. Registration is free of charge and your username and password will be emailed to you.\r

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Cumberland Council is fully supportive of all aspects of diversity including ethnicity, race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation. In this respect Cumberland Council welcomes expressions of interest from ethnic minority, disabled and other diverse business communities and the voluntary sector. Economic operators are therefore required to fully comply with all statutory obligations/applicable legislation and there will be a requirement to participate in the authority's supplier audits on all aspects of diversity.\r

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The contracting authority expressly reserves the right:\r

(i) not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and\r

(ii) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition; and in no circumstances will the contracting authority be liable for any costs incurred by the candidates. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential suppliers\r

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The contracting authority reserve the right to use any electronic portal during the life of the agreement.

The purpose of this PIN is to alert potential bidders to an opportunity in respect of services likely to be procured.

Cumberland Council intends to procure a supplier of 5G Networks and associated services on behalf of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal partners. The supplier will provide the survey, design, implementation and operation of a hybrid 5G and advanced wireless network and the delivery of use cases across five initial tourism venues in the Borderlands region (Windermere Ferry, Stranraer Marina, Tweed Trail at the Crook Inn, Kielder Castle, The Sill at Hadrian’s Wall).

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 five tourism sites 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 March 2024 with a view to awarding a contract in May be expected to deliver the 5G private networks and accompanying use case implementation at the five sites by the end of March 2025. It is anticipated that the term of the contract will be for seven years.

There may be opportunities to expand the scope of services at the initial sites 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 https://www.the-chest.org.uk/.

An online market information webinar will be held on 11th March 2024. All potential bidders are invited to attend to hear and discuss the Borderlands 5G Innovation Region’s current procurement plans, to ask questions, and to suggest improvements that could be made to the plans.

The Council will 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.

Potential bidders wishing to attend the webinar can do so by registering through the following link:

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/95cbf456-c3a2-4f01-8b92-487a6b27f20a@ac4b077e-a758-4bc5-9465-35c192007704

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 1.0, through the Chest portal at https://www.the-chest.org.uk/.

Potential Bidders may submit clarification questions through the Chest Portal at any time up to 13th March 2024