ATO extends $1bn Optus megadeal for another 18 months – Strategy – Telco/ISP

The Australian Taxation Office has prolonged its ten years-prolonged managed network expert services megadeal with Optus even though it continues searching for telcos to make up a new multi-sourcing arrangement.

The national revenue agency handed Optus an eighteen-thirty day period extension previously this thirty day period at a cost of $141.five million that extends the present offer right until 30 December 2021.

It brings the whole price of the contract – which addresses voice and facts carriage, telephony, wide and area spot networks and speak to centre infrastructure – to $one.thirteen billion more than 11 a long time.

The contract was set to expire on 30 June 2020 to make way for six new managed network provider bundles that the agency approached the marketplace for very last December.

Every of the bundles, which will be furnished by a diverse provider provider, are meant to be “smaller, much more modularised and far better marketplace aligned” than the current arrangement.

The ATO reported this will “enable greatest of breed and focussed provider supply, in change giving far better price for money”.

The bundles will deal with facts carriage, set voice, mobile expert services, network administration, unified communications and speak to centre expert services.

But with that procurement even now incomplete, a spokesperson instructed iTnews that the Optus contract experienced been prolonged for eighteen months “to help a thriving changeover to a new supplier”.

“During this interval, Optus will go on to deliver expert services, components, and application to empower the supply of expert services … right until new supplier preparations consider impact,” the ATO reported.

“This is a very standard business practice for taking care of any opportunity transitioning of expert services.”

The spokesperson reported the extension provided two do the job orders, only a single of which has been prolonged for eighteen months: BAU expert services in the course of the changeover interval.

BAU expert services account for the greater part of the contract at $85.three million, even though the next do the job purchase for the renewal of managed network expert services (MNS) application licenses and maintenance is valued at $forty three.three million.

The renewal of MNS application licences and maintenance is for twelve months, although the “Cisco A-Flex company licence agreement and telepresence” contained in will stretch for 36 months.

The spokesperson reported this agreement was prolonged for 36 months “as it represented far better price for money”.

The spokesperson also pressured that the extension did not indicate there experienced not been any delays to the procurement, including RFT SPC-2896-one or RFT SPC-2896-two.

“The procurement exercise is presently ongoing. We are not able to deliver more details at this time.”

The agency has beforehand declined to reveal whether or not any suppliers have been shortlisted, inspite of authentic tender documents stating that this would occur by May 2020. 

Optus has held the ATO’s managed network expert services offer considering the fact that the agency break up up its monolithic IT outsourcing agreement with IT expert services business EDS (now DXC) in 2009.

The offer, which is a single of a few IT outsourcing agreements slated for refresh more than the following 12 months-and-a-half, is the initially to be marketplace tested by the ATO.

The other two bundles are held by Leidos (finish person computing), which was prolonged right until November 2021 very last 12 months at the cost of $87 million, and DXC (centralised computing).