A fully managed break-fix maintenance & service support contract is required for the UHF TETRA radio systems & all associated equipment (including radio terminals) deployed in 118 public & private prisons managed by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) throughout England & Wales.

The safety & security of staff & prisoners is critical & the maintenance of an effective communication system is a key component of the NOMS’ security strategy.

Any failure of the radio system presents a significant threat to the operational stability, safety & security of prisons.

Accepting that the equipment is subject to failure & wear & tear issues it is essential that the maintenance of the radio system is prioritised & that any serious failures are resolved rapidly.

The main radio communication system encompasses c122 Rohill Tetranode base stations with SafteyNet Digital software & c18000 Hytera PT580H radio terminals.

For a majority of radio terminals no connections are made to external TETRA users, each prison or cluster of prisons uses the devices as a closed-user group; this could be varied in the lifetime of the contract.

Due to the business criticality of the service, some resilience has been implemented in the technical design, & the current & expected service support model is: - 24/7 helpdesk support - 4 hour response & restoration of service where there is a significant loss of communication affecting all users on site - 8 hour response & restoration of service where there is some disruption to radio communication affecting a number of users - Next working day response & fix for single terminal failure, on a repair by replacement basis.

Remote access to the prison sites is currently not available with each prison operating a local network and various inter-site connectivity options are in place.

A small portion of the radio communication system uses TETRA airtime using Sepura radio terminals, vehicle terminals and fixed mobiles.

It is expected that the new contract will include the requirement to replace some radio terminals & the associated system PCs during the contract term where it is identified that they are at the end of their usable life.

It will also cover the decommissioning of equipment at some sites, the provision of this service at new sites & amendments/improvements to service coverage at existing sites.

The Authority wishes to engage with the marketplace to help support the definition of the requirements & generate market interest for the upcoming procurement, expected to be run in October 2016.

It is expected that interested suppliers will be prepared to work flexibly to understand the operational challenges associated with providing this service within a prison environment.

E.g. by assuring the appropriate security clearance of staff working in prisons, safe disposal of contaminated equipment & the logistical context of a secure, gated site where operational imperatives & duty of care over-ride all other considerations.