Voice, video, data: £1bn gov't telecoms contract up for grabs

Whitehall rings up its phone bill

A £1bn contract to provide telecoms equipment across the public sector has been put out to tender.

Central and local government departments, NHS organisations and other public bodies will be provided with telecoms goods, services and client side support under the framework agreement put out by Buying Solutions, the trading arm of the government's procurement body, the Office of Government Commerce said this week.

The systems under the framework will handle voice, video and data and include telecoms equipment and network infrastructure, call centre systems, unified communications, fixed to mobile communications, radio equipment, videoconferencing kit, satellite services, CCTV and RFID tech.

The agreement is worth between £500,000 and £1bn and will run for two years, with the option to be extended by two terms of up to 12 months.

The deadline for tender submissions is 4 August this year.