The UK Government signed a bulk-buying agreement with prominent telecoms and networking service providers to procure discount for local and central bodies. The new agreement is beneficial for both government and people.

The UK government has initiated a bulk-buying framework contract with major networking solutions providers and telecoms to secure rebates for both local and central sector bodies on the contracts that worth £500 Million, as per the news published by Silicon.

The executive agency of the Office of Government Commerce, OGC.buying solutions, included one more framework in its list of framework agreements, known as new Telecoms Network Framework (TNF).

The TNF agreement came into effect on January 8, 2008. It enlists 37 telecoms suppliers that deal in 12 different categories. The agreement contains terms and conditions on which purchasing transactions will take place and OGCbuying.solutions. Cable & Wireless, BT, Avaya, Affiniti, NEC-Philips Unified Solutions, Computacenter, Telewest, Thus, Verizon, and Siemens are some of the prominent telecoms suppliers agreed to the terms and conditions and signed the deal.

The agreement is the result of demand of the British telecoms industry for framework agreements. The number of telecom players is growing in the UK, which are causing many infrastructure problems. Hence, it becomes necessary to have a framework agreement.

The new TNF encloses various provisions including voice calls and lines, maintenance by third party, structured cabling, provisions for Internet service, networking equipment, infrastructure and connectivity, wireless date infrastructure, and other essential services. Moreover, the framework is designed keeping the Next Generation Networks in mind. It also contains guidance, new standards and model conditions for Next Generation Networks structured by the Office of Government Commerce with industry bodies and other governmental departments.

Framework agreements are in accordance with the procurement rules established by EU for public sector. It incorporates shorter procurement cycles and pre-negotiated terms that help public sector consumers save money and curtail the cost of sale for suppliers. Apart from this, the new agreement helps the UK telecom sector to provide data management and interface.

According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The UK telecom industry is scaling new heights of success as the new technologies making entry into the market are fuelling growth in the overall telecom industry. The recently signed TNF contract will also provide lot of benefits to the customers as now they can select from various telecom products online. This will also give them total value for their money.”