International Telecommunications Data Circuits

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/An Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus Trádála ran this procurement for “International Telecommunications Data Circuits” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m Public Liability €6
• ority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contractsmay amount to some €7,760,000 (excl
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• Months 100Mbps\n Installation Costs Assuming 36 Months Contract Additional Annual Support Co
• \n Installation Costs Assuming 36 Months Contract Additional Annual Support Co
• 1.1 The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”).
• 1.2 In summary, the Services comprise: 1. End-to-End Layer 2 (where Layer 2 has the meaning given in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model) synchronous telecommunications data circuits. 2. Support and maintenance of synchronous telecommunications data circuits.
• 1.4 This public procurement competition (the “Competition”) will be conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016) (the “Regulations”). Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of three (3) years (“the Term”).
• 1.6 The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contractsmay amount to some €7,760,000 (excl. VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions. Tenderers must understand that this figure is an estimate only based on current and future expected usage.
• [RFT - International Telecommunications Data Circuits.docx] (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Services Contract that may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits. Larger enterprises are also encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to consider the practical ways that SMEs can be included in their proposals to maximise the social and economic benefits of any Services Contracts that may result from this Competition.
• 2.1.2 The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced or any Tender. This RFT does not constitute an offer or commitment to enter into a Services Contract. No contractual rights in relation to the Contracting Authority will exist unless and until a formal written Services Contract has been executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. Any notification of preferred bidder status by the Contracting Authority shall not give rise to any enforceable rights by the Tenderer. The Contracting Authority may cancel this Competition or for the avoidance of any doubt, any individual lot at any time prior to a formal written Services Contract being executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. The award of a Services Contract does not confer exclusivity on the successful Tenderer.
• 2.1.5 The Contracting Authority would refer Tenderers in particular to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 on the access of third country economic operators, goods and services to the Union’s public procurement and concession markets and procedures supporting negotiations on access of Union economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement and concession markets of third countries (International Procurement Instrument – IPI), and to their obligations to comply therewith. In particular, tenderers and candidates should note Article 6 Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m Public Liability €6; 5m Product Liability €6.5m Professional Indemnity €500,000
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
• — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m Public Liability €6
• 5m Product Liability €6.5m Professional Indemnity €500,000
• Cyber Liability €5.0m 2

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications
• Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer
• Appendix 5: European Single Procurement Document (ESPD)
• Appendix 8: Confidentiality Agreement
• 1.1 The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”).
• 1.3 This public procurement competition will be divided into 6 lots (each a “Lot”) as described below. Each Lot will result in a separate contract. Tenderers can provide a proposal for all or any Lots 1 - 6. The address and current bandwidths of the locations included in each lot is provided in a spreadsheet “Appendix 6 - Office Locations 2025”. LOT DESCRIPTION Lot 1 This lot includes 41 locations mainly in Europe. Minimum bandwidth required for all locations in this lot is 10Mbps. Lot 2 This lot includes 12 locations in Canada and the USA. Minimum bandwidth required for all locations in this lot is 100Mbps. Lot 3 This lot includes 16 locations in Asia. Minimum bandwidth required for all locations in this lot is 10Mbps Lot 4 This lot includes 6 locations in South America. Minimum bandwidth required for all locations in this lot is 10Mbps Lot 5 This lot includes 5 locations in the Middle East. Minimum bandwidth required for all locations in this lot is 10Mbps. Lot 6

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 5 years. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m Public Liability €6
• NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
• LOT DESCRIPTION Lot 1 This lot includes 41 locations mainly in Europe
• reserves the right to extend the Term for a period of up to 12 months with a maximum of 2 such extensions on
• by a member of the Contracting Authority’s ICT Unit within 5 days of receipt of the handover document
• [insert number]calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
• breach(es) (if the breach(es) are capable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: RFT - International Telecommunications Data Circuits.docx, RFT - International Telecommunications Data Circuits.docx] ![DFAT_Standard_Green.pn, RFT - International Telecommunications Data Circuits.docx] Part 1: Introduction.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications, Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule, Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement.