Press Releases

Peter Gershon Announces New Broadband Service

BT and Telewest are amongst six Internet providers chosen by the government to help speed up broadband Internet access into local authorities and government departments, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) announced today.

The "Broadband Solutions Framework Agreement" will help public sector bodies buy Broadband connectivity and complementary services quickly and easily and has been established following a comprehensive and competitive procurement process.

The other companies involved in today's announcement are: Easynet, Fujitsu, Kingston and Synetrix.

OGC Chief Executive, Peter Gershon, said of the Agreement:

"This new arrangement will be of major benefit to those government departments who are seeking to develop the use of Broadband. It reduces the time and effort required in sourcing Broadband products by offering quality goods and services at value for money prices without the need for separate tendering processes".

Companies bidding for inclusion in the agreement were assessed on their ability to provide quality, value for money Broadband services. OGC have announced that six service providers have been chosen.

The Framework Agreement will allow Government clients to gain easier access to a range of fully EC compliant packaged services, which may be selected from a 'catalogue' and will also facilitate the procurement of customer specific services via mini-competition arrangements.

OGC's procurement arm, OGCbuying.solutions, conducted the supplier tendering process and will manage the framework agreement.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. In his speech to the CBI on 5 November 2001, the Prime Minister said:
"We spend millions every year on IT and Communications. It is clear that if we can manage our role as purchaser better, we can both improve value for money and have a significant impact on the availability of Broadband".

2. The six chosen Service Providers under the Broadband Solutions Framework Agreement are: BT, Easynet, Fujitsu, Kingston, Synetrix and Telewest.

3. The Broadband Solutions Framework covers the range of current generation broadband connectivity solutions and is also designed to make available emerging technologies In addition to broadband connectivity, service providers may offer ancillary services and exchange lines.

4. Broadband connectivity includes xDSL, cable modem, satellite, broadband fixed wireless access, basic rate ISDN and/or similar or successor services. Higher-speed services, such as are typically currently provided via optical fibre connections are also available.

5. Ancillary services associated with broadband connectivity include Internet access, remote access, electronic mail, centrally hosted applications and security functionality.

6. Exchange lines encompass voice telephone, voice messaging and similar services.

7. Established in April 2000, the OGC was set up to act as a catalyst in procurement issues and to work with central civil government departments to achieve best value for money in their commercial activities. Responsible for civil central government Procurement Policy and Best Practice including Construction, Property Management, IT, Supplier Relations including opening up access to government contracts to SMEs, e-Commerce including the Government Procurement Card, the Gateway Review Process and OGCbuying.solutions, which is responsible for the Government buying catalogues, G-Cat and S-Cat and developing strategic procurement partnerships, including Framework Agreements, with the private sector.

8. OGCbuying.solutions is the commercial trading arm of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is itself an office of HM Treasury. OGC was launched on 1 April 2000 as a result of a review of civil procurement in Central Government. Its aim is to achieve substantial value for money improvements in the Government's procurement budget. OGCbuying.solutions was launched on 1 April 2001 and is responsible for identifying and producing value for money purchasing initiatives, offering measurable cost savings to the taxpayer. Among the services available from OGCbuying.solutions to public sector purchasers are utilities procurement provision, IT products and services, IT-related consultancy, energy, fuel and water services and specialist procurement packages tailored to specific needs.

9. The Broadband Solutions Framework will be launched at this years Public Sector Expo Event (PSE) 2003, 14th and 15th May at ExCel Docklands, for further information visit www.publicsectorexpo.com

10. Press enquiries to:
Julie Morgan at OGCbuying.solutions on 0151 672 2298 julie.morgan@ogcbs.gsi.gov.uk or
Martin Day at the Office of Government Commerce on 020 7271 1318 Martin.day@ogc.gsi.gov.uk