Whole-of-Govt mobile panel in the works

The Federal Government is seeking to establish a three-year panel for the provision of mobile commodities, carriage and services.

In a request for tender, the Department of Finance and Deregulation sought providers for mobile carriage, services, accessories and devices such as handsets, smartphones and broadband modems.

The panel would be accessible to all government agencies under Australian Government Telecommunications Arrangements (AGTA).

It was expected to reduce the cost of supply to agencies while meeting business needs, contribute to a competitive industry, and result in fair and transparent procurement processes in line with the Government's whole-of-government procurement plans that were announced last October.

Tenderers were advised to comply with equal opportunity obligations for women in the workforce, meet legal obligations to employees, and not engage any illegal workers in their provision of services.

Applications would be subject to background checks via discussions with nominated referees, site visits, and security, regulatory, probity and financial investigations.

They would be evaluated based on pricing, technical and commercial capabilities.

Carriage providers were required to provide a messaging service and end-to-end services for voice calls to fixed lines, international numbers, special services, operator assistance, and other mobile devices across GSM and 3G networks.

A plan to provide LTE and 4G services was also deemed desirable.

Meanwhile, mobile devices were expected to be free from SIM locking and any mechanisms preventing their use other infrastructures like VoIP.

Faults were to be resolved within four business hours in metropolitan areas, 12 business hours in regional areas, 12 business hours plus one business day in remote areas, and 12 business hours plus two business days internationally.

Tenders should be lodged by 22 April. The Finance Department expected to appoint panel members in July 2010.

Earlier this week, the Finance Department revealed plans to establish a whole-of-government data centre provision panel, as part of a strategy designed to avoid anticipated costs of $1 billion over the next 15 years.