Extension of Network Tower Services Agreement

Contracts

• Contract 011166-2023-212027-2015-1 · Verizon UK Limited

  Signed

  22 Apr 2015

  Value

  £150,400,000

  Status

  active

  • Change The following key amendments will be made to the Verizon Network Master Services Agreement. A three year extension of all Services., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This Notice relates to the modification of an existing contract that has been necessary due to the following reasons: On the 29th April 2022, BT Openreach announced that copper lines would no longer be sold from 118 exchanges across the UK and that by 2026 they will have begun the shutdown of the ageing copper wire telephone line network. This means that Post Office will need to migrate approximately 11,500 branches away from the copper lines which provide their network connectivity, to an alternative services such as Fibre. The Services cannot be transferred away from the original contractor before the Copper Stop deadline, which falls after the Verizon contract is currently due to expire (i.e. 20th May 2025), due to the complexity and vastness of Post Office's Branch Network which is critical to the communities it serves. A change of contractor would result in technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance at this time. Awarding the services to a different contractor would also cause significant inconvenience in terms of service delivery, reliability and continuity of service. In addition, the decision by BT Openreach to stop the sell of copper services could not have been foreseen by Post Office. Therefore, Post Office has modified the contract in accordance with Regulations 72 (1) (b) and 72 (1) (c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. NB: The increase in price as a result of the modified contract is less than 50% of the original contract value and the extension does not alter the overall nature of the contract. The Services have thereby been extended for an additional period of 3 years from the 1st April 2023.

Dispute resolution & review bodies

• Royal Courts of JusticeReview body London