The procurement contact named on the official notice.

The Network Fire Services Partnership (NFSP) provides a collaborative approach for the Fire Services of Devon and Somerset, Dorset & Wiltshire, Hampshire & IOW and Kent.

The partnership covers a total area of 24,700 km2 with a population of 7.65m and works closely with the local control rooms located in Exeter, Eastleigh, Potterne and Maidstone.

The Partnership works to five strategic goals: • Control - mobilising • Response • Seizing opportunities • Our People • Governance and leadership These goals enable the Partnership to work collaboratively, support public safety and be at the forefront of developing, sharing and influencing best practice.

Seizing opportunities enables the Partnership to be flexible and agile enough to make the most of innovative developments that offer value for money for all three partners.

Drawn from across the four services, with a range of skills and experience the Central Team are the go to people for any new opportunities.

The subject of this Prior Information Notice & Background to Engagement: The Partnership is embarking on a number of major IT and business change projects.

These include the replacement of their current shared Command and Control software solution and a new/upgraded Wide Area Network (WAN) to support this new system and each of the Partners specific needs.

Both solutions are envisaged to have a life-span of between 8 and 10 years.

The Command and Control project is currently in the process of procuring a solution that will include the provision of the network hardware infrastructure – see diagram of scope attached.

It is understood that the common Command and Control solution will be presented at 2 UK based Secure locations, these are yet to be determined and should be known by August.

Therefore, the replacement of the Wide Area Network project will not have a full set of detailed requirements for the supplied hardware at the stage of this PIN.

However, we have included an overview of the broader requirements for this engagement below (Annex A in section II.2.4 below).

Please also see supporting Scoping Diagram an Annex B.

Overview for this Preliminary Market Engagement The NFSP requires a solution provider to work closely with their project team to provide the overall Design, to Build, Test and Implement the new Wide Area Network as well as providing an on-going support service over a period of between 8-10 years from start of contract.

To this end, we wish to undertake some preliminary market engagement.

The purpose of this is to assist the project team in: (a) developing the requirements and approach to the procurement; (b) designing a procedure, conditions of participation or award criteria; (c) preparing the tender notice and associated tender documents; (d) identifying suppliers that may be able to supply the goods, services or works required and the most appropriate route to market; (e) identifying likely contractual terms; It is likely that the route to market will be via further competition under the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM6116 Network Services 3 Lot 1a: Inter Site Connectivity (Wider Area Network) / Data Access Services, however, this decision will be informed by this preliminary market engagement exercise.

The NFSP will be hosting a supplier day at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue headquarters in Salisbury on Thursday 20th June 2024.

We would be keen to hear from suppliers who are interested in taking part in this preliminary market engagement and would like to come and visit the project team on the 20th June and discuss the requirements in more detail.

In the first instance, please express interest in this opportunity via the Kent Business Portal and contact amanda.avron-cotton@kent.fire-uk.org to confirm your details and obtain further information and instructions.