Supply and Maintenance of Internet Data Circuit Connectivity for Marlborough House

Item Description:

The Commonwealth Secretariat (The Secretariat) is an international organisation established by Agreed Memorandum, which is given privileges and immunities under the domestic law of the United Kingdom by the Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 (as amended by the International Organisations Act 2005). Under this legislation, the Secretariat is not subject to UK jurisdiction and enforcement. Further information on the Secretariat can be found at: http://thecommonwealth.org/

This status has an impact on some of the standard terms and conditions of contract (see appendix 1). In particular, we draw your attention to our dispute resolution clause, which refers disputes to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitration Tribunal (CSAT). The 8 members of the Tribunal are selected by the Board of Governors and come from Commonwealth member countries. CSAT is located in London, United Kingdom. Information about CSAT, including its governing statute and procedure are available on its website at http://thecommonwealth.org/tribunal.

The Secretariat implements decisions agreed by 54 Heads of Government and Ministers through advocacy, consensus–building, information sharing, analysis, technical assistance, capacity-building, and advice on policy development.

Purpose

The Secretariat is seeking to replace its current Internet data circuits which are reaching the end of their contract period. We wish to maintain and, if possible, enhance our current level of service resilience and performance, whilst reducing the number of circuits from the current three to two. Due to constraints of our existing digital telephony implementation, we have a dedicated VOIP circuit which will no longer be required once a new telephony solution is in place. We currently have in place:

1. 1 Gb/s Primary data circuit
2. 1 GB/s Secondary data circuit
3. 600 Mb/S VOIP circuit

These are supplied by different carriers but all utilising Openreach bearers

We wish to replace these with two circuits:

1. 1 Gb/s Primary data circuit
2. 1 GB/s Secondary data circuit

For reasons of resilience, we would like to have these new circuits supplied on separate cables, using as diverse a route as possible to their termination points in two separate basement locations within Marlborough House. We would also like them to be terminated at the remote end in different exchanges.

• Invitation to Tender (DOC)
• Terms of Reference (PDF)
• Code of Ethics (PDF)