FC.15.ICT.0005.1.0 – Provision of Telecommunications services and mobile devices 2015 (TEL2015)
Questions and Answers
Date / Question / Answer25.03.2015 / 1) Can the offer be submitted in Portuguese? / Tenderers can submit an offer in any of the European Union official languages.
25.03.2015 / 2) Can you clarify the calculation of the value of the framework contract? / The amount indicated in the tender specification is an estimate amount that will range between 200.000 and 250.000 EUR and indicates the maximum amount that the EMCDDA will spend under the four year period of the framework contract. Please note that establishing a framework contract does NOT constitute an engagement on expenditure amounts from the EMCDDA.
25.03.2015 / 3) Point 11 of the tender specifications, on what regards the technical award criteria, please clarify the points of technical award criterion N° 6 – Service Level Agreement.
Point 11 of the tender specifications, on what regards the price award criteria, please clarify. / There is indeed an error in page 6. Please note that if the service levels offered are the minimum required, the offer will receive 2.5 points, if the service levels are higher, can be given more points.
The price used for the evaluation will be calculated based on a scenario which does not constitute an engagement of services to order - therefore the indication of the actual situation (300 DDIs) and the indication of using 400 DDIs for the pricing can be both valid.
25.03.2015 / 4) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought
3.1. Main telephone link. What prices are required? / The price indicated is the price for each PRI - the EMCDDA may order only one, or more than one (see also answer 5). It is possible that the main PRI will be used initially for a group of 300 DDIs, but that indication does not constitute a guarantee. Annex B indicates clearly that must be indicated the price per DDI. If the price for the PRI includes a number of DDIs, that can be indicated, however the prices for additional DDIs must be indicated
25.03.2015 / 5) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.1. Main telephone link. Please indicate number of links required? / It is expected that the EMCDDA will order initially one PRI, but it is possible that the EMCDDA may order more PRI connections to increase the number of channels available. This is a framework contract allowing the purchase of a number of services (connections) and devices depending on the needs of the EMCDDA, not a fixed contract to buy a pre-defined and fixed number of services and devices.
25.03.2015 / 6) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.1. Main telephone link. What is the traffic profile? / The tenderers must choose the tariff to indicate. Cannot be provided a volume, as the quantity of services and the volume of communications itself may in part be influenced by the tariffs, also considering that the scope of this framework contract is different from previous framework contracts covering similar services.
25.03.2015 / 7) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.1. Main telephone link. Please clarify paragraph 4 “(…) If available, assuming the same contractor for services 1 and 2 (“mobile voice and data connections”), must ….)” / In case of failure of the main telephone link due to special conditions like e.g. a fire in the building, the EMCDDA can ask to have a list of DDIs routed directly to mobile phone numbers in a transparent way, i.e. without the caller being told the call is being rerouted to a mobile phone. The additional communications cost (if any) for transferring the phone call from a fixed to a mobile destination will be supported by the EMCDDA, thus eliminating the need to notify the caller. The tender must indicate if this service is available, and if there is any cost related specifically to the availability of this service, as clearly indicated in the Annex B.
25.03.2015 / 8) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
The number of voice and data SIM cards to be considered is 52?
Can the EMCDDA provide quantities? / It's possible that the number of voice and data SIM cards and data only mobile connection SIM cards will be lower than the actual 52, possibly as low as 23. It is not possible to provide a precise number since the quantity is subject to revision and the EMCDDA cannot take any engagement on a minimum quantity.
25.03.2015 / 9) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.2. Mobile voice and data connections.
Can the EMCDDA provide an estimate of average consumptions of minutes/SMS of fixed and mobile lines per geographical region?
(grouping of countries by operator tariff geographical area provided) / It is not possible to provide such a division, which furthermore would mean providing an advantage to your company, by providing information customised according to your tarification.
25.03.2015 / 10) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.3 Mobile data connections
Can the EMCDDA provide an estimate of average consumptions of mobile data GB/month/card per geographical region?
(grouping of countries by operator tariff geographical area provided) / Please see previous answer
25.03.2015 / 11) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
Is the address for the required internet accesses always the same? If yes, should we consider Praça Europa 1, Cais do Sodré, 1249-285 Lisboa ? / Yes, your understanding is correct.
25.03.2015 / 12) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought.
3.4. Special purpose Internet link.
1) Do we have to give quote for Wi-Fi equipment for the Guest Wi-Fi network?
2) Paragraph 5 indicates that the minimum required is 99.95%, calculated over a six months…). What does this 99.95% refer to? / 1) No, there is no such requirement in the specifications.
2) The percentage indicated is always the Service Level Agreement (SLA) i.e. the availability.
25.03.2015 / 13) Annex A – Services and goods – 3. Services being sought
3.6. Videoconference lines. / The videoconference systems use ISDN lines. The tenderers are free to submit an offer in any EU official language, if using acronyms in a language different from English. It is up to the tenderer to recognise which acronym corresponds to ISDN.
25.03.2015 / 14) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 1; Table 2; Table 3:
The table refer to average prices per minute. Should be considered mathematical averages? Can tables with the different prices be presented and then the EMCDDA calculates the average?
We understand EU refers to the countries of the European Union, can you confirm our understanding is correct? / It is the responsibility of the tenderer to fill-in the forms in Annex B, as clearly stated in the specifications.
The averages are mathematical averages, and "EU" is indeed the abbreviation for "European Union".
25.03.2015 / 15) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 2: Please clarify.
It is our understanding that the cells indicated with R in the table (table from Annex B) are prices for voice communications in roaming. Can you confirm our understanding is correct? / The rows indicate the location of origin of the communication, the columns the destination of the communication. The tenderer must decide whether communications outside Portugal for a customer based in Portugal like the EMCDDA are considered roaming or not.
25.03.2015 / 16) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 3: Please clarify.
It is our understanding that the cells indicated with R in the table (table from Annex B) are prices per MB of data in roaming. Can you confirm our understanding is correct? / See answer 15
25.03.2015 / 17) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 3: Please clarify.
It is our understanding that the cells indicated with R in the table (table from Annex B) are prices per MB of data in roaming. Can you confirm our understanding is correct? / See answer 16
25.03.2015 / 18) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 4: Please clarify.
It is our understanding that the “Cost for redirection service” (table from Annex B) refers to a fixed monthly or setup fee and not a cost per minute for redirection. Can you confirm our understanding is correct? / The cost indicated is the cost per month or for initial setup of the service. There is no reference to communication costs, which are considered in other areas.
25.03.2015 / 19) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 5: Please clarify.
It is our understanding that the table (table from Annex B) refers only to “Mobile Voice Connections”. Can you confirm our understanding is correct?
If traffic is included in the monthly fee, where should we indicate the quantity of minutes and the type of traffic included in the monthly fee? / See the caption of the table "Costs for service 2 (Mobile voice and data connections)" and the description of Service 2 in the specifications, as indicated in the caption, Table 5 is specific for that service. In relation with the possibility of free minutes, see annex B below Table 5 "If there is the possibility of having a package of free minutes for calls between mobile and fixed phones belonging to the EMCDDA and it entails an extra monthly cost, the monthly subscription cost must be indicated writing “xxx+yy” in the “Monthly subscription (per number)” space (where “xx” is the monthly cost for the subscription, and “yy” the extra cost for the package of minutes)." The description of the type of traffic with the "yy" price can be done in the text of the offer, as indicated in the specifications.
25.03.2015 / 20) Annex B – Budget Forms
2. Communication and data services tariffs
Table 6 Please clarify.
If traffic is included in the monthly fee, where should we indicate the quantity of minutes and the type of traffic included in the monthly fee? / In relation with eventually included traffic, see what indicated after Table 6, "What indicated above about filling in table 5, applies also to the table 6.", i.e. what indicated in answer 19) applies also to this answer, the quantity of MB included and for what type of traffic can be indicated in the text of the offer.
25.03.2015 / 21) Annex B – Budget Forms
4. Mobile devices. Basic profile
It is our understanding that for this profile
a) It’s required only to use it for voice calls, SMS, MMS, and the users are not going to make 3G data connections to access their e-mail, can you confirm our understanding?
b) It is not necessary to propose equipment with data connections 3G or lower, it this understanding correct? / The specification indicated clearly for the basic model "possibility to be used as a 3G modem". It is for the tenderer to choose whether this functionality can be available through USB or bluetooth tethering, being usable as wi-fi hotspot, or any other technology, as well as which data connection technology to use.
8.04.2015 / General preamble on the applicable law of EMCDDA procurement procedures. / It should be noticed as an EU Agency located in Lisbon, the EMCDDA is bound to respect in its procurements the Portuguese criminal and civil law, but only to the limits in which they don’t contradict the EU Regulations applicable to financial and procurement operations and in general to the working of the EMCDDA – any other legislation of any country, including Portugal, including legislation about public procurement, is not applicable to the EMCDDA.
8.04.2015 / Point 11 of tender specifications (page 6) - Price award criteria.
For the evaluation, which are the services and products that will be taken into consideration? / It can only be restated what indicated in the specifications, that the for the evaluation will be the cost for the EMCDDA calculated as the cost “for a scenario of 35 mobile and voice and data connections, 20 mobile data connections, 1 main telephone link (PRI) with 400 DDIs, 2 Special purpose Internet connections”, and that the cost will be calculated “over a period of one year, including setup fees”, adding up “the cost for the purchase of 25 “basic phones”, 15 “advanced phones” and 10 “tablets””, adding up also “the cost for calls and data connections, calculated by fixing a certain number of minutes of different types of calls (roaming, national, to fixed and from fixed in different countries, also between numbers of the EMCDDA) and a certain number of MB of data connections (roaming, national)”.
8.04.2015 / Point 11 of tender specifications – Award criteria
What is the final formula regarding point ( …) the cost for calls and data connections, calculated by fixing a certain number of minutes of different types of calls ( roaming national, to fixed and from fixed in different countries, also between numbers of the EMCDDA) and a certain number of MB of data connections ( roaming, national), and calculating the overall cost) ( …).
We would like to know what are the exact minutes included and for what destinations, the MB, etc.? / From what indicated in answer 1 and the specifications, it can be derived what will be the formula. The number and type of minutes and MB must equal for all the submitted tender, but the EMCDDA is not under obligation of disclosing the number used, only to guarantee a fair treatment of the tenderers.
8.04.2015 / Annex B – Budget Forms
Table 1 and Table 2
Should the information on Table 2 be the same as the information presented for Table1? / The tenderer can indicate that the prices to call from mobile to international destinations will be the same as the ones indicated in table 1, or can provide an additional table copying table 1 without the “Portugal” row with the prices for calls from mobiles in Portugal to foreign destinations - the choice is left to the tenderer, since it is the overall cost for one year that is going to give points, not each of the prices. Furthermore, it must be remembered the EMCDDA cannot engage itself on any business volume, including phone calls and data connections.
14.04.2015 / Annex A
3.1. Main telephone link.
“The EMCDDA expects to have a connection with a standard RJ45 connector to use with its PBX, as it’s usual: should the need to support an higher number of channels arise, the company winning this tender must be able to provide a second PRI in pairing to provide additional capability.”.
We understand that you intend to 2 PRI access. It’s correct our understanding? / It is expected to order one PRI at the start. The EMCDDA can in principle order any number of PRI, as this is a framework contract. If the need arises to increase the number of outgoing channels, the contractor is expected to be able to provide a second PRI in pairing, bringing to a configuration with 2 PRI corresponding to the same DDIs in entry.
14.04.2015 / 3.5. Analogue lines
“The EMCDDA has a number of analogue lines, used with analogue faxes, as well as for security and emergency services. It is expected to continue using some of those faxes and security and emergency service in future, using number portability as required to move the phone numbers to the new services provider.”
How many analogue lines should be considered? / The EMCDDA has four analogues lines at the moment, however, this does not mean that the EMCDDA will continue to keep such a number of lines, it does not constitute an engagement to buy, and cannot be used as a contractual parameter.
14.04.2015 / Documents:
Can the supporting documents of the proposal have the following configuration: Declarations in tender specifications in English and the proposal, the balance sheets and other documents in Portuguese / As already indicated in the Q&A, offers can be submitted in any of the official languages of the EU – it is also admissible to mix languages for practical reasons, insofar as all the languages used are official EU languages