Victoria govt awards Internet contract

The Victorian State Government is understood to have awarded a whole of government Internet services contract to service providers Pacific Internet, Optus, Eftel and Netspace.

A spokesperson for the state's ICT Minister Tim Holding could not immediately comment on the deal, which was initially announced late Thursday in a statement by Pacific Internet. It gives the four ISPs the right to supply Internet-related services to a range of government agencies, with Pacific Internet gaining exclusive rights for a six-month period.

"The win gives Pacific Internet the exclusive opportunity to seek new contracts in the provision of Internet services, including associated services such as virus protection, spam and content filtering, e-mail services and Web hosting, with a number of Victorian departments for the coming half year," the ISP's statement said.

"Pacific Internet was also named one of four Internet service providers to have Victorian Government preferred supplier status for the next three years as part of a larger whole Victorian Government Internet services -- business award," the statement added.

In an interview with ZDNet Australia, Netspace spokesperson Ben Dunscombe confirmed his company's win and said the deal would give Netspace a great opportunity to consolidate its already strong position in the education market, and expand further into other areas of the government.

The total value of the deal is unknown but is understood to have been sealed around a month ago.

Pacific Internet said it had an exclusive business opportunity with the following Victorian government agencies:

• The Department of Treasury and Finance
• The Department of Premier and Cabinet
• The Department of Justice
• The Department of Human Services
• The Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development
• The Department of Infrastructure
• The Department of Primary Industries
• The Department for Victorian Communities
• The Department of Sustainability and Environment
• VicRoads
• The State Revenue Office
• The Parliament of Victoria