Notification Service for Test Trace Protect

CPV: Postal and telecommunications services · Short Message Service (SMS) services

Procedure method

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Legal basis

CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded without competition

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

28 Oct 2021, 16:35 BST

Last source update

28 Oct 2021, 16:35 BST

Authority reference

P642.22

FTS notice number

2021/S 000-027103

Classification (CPV)

Postal and telecommunications servicesShort Message Service (SMS) services

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-02f14c Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Published justification

DHCW are seeking to migrate the SMS services currently provided by the incumbent supplier to the UK Gov Notify Service following an official communication issued by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) regarding SMS and Telephone Communications Best Practice approach. The NCSC is an organisation of the UK Government that provides advice and support for the public and private sector in how to avoid computer security threats. The recommendation in the NCSC paper is the best and most effective way to ensure messages are protected, and not blocked, is to use the UK Gov Notify messaging service. The recommendation comes following instances of criminals posing as official sources by mimicking official communications and concealing within them a malicious link or a request for information or action by the citizen. This has undermined the ability of Test Trace Protect to contact infected individuals due to a loss of trust as to whether the SMS are genuine or fraudulent, meaning some SMS may be ignored and deleted. The UK Gov Notify solution is robust from a security perspective. NCSC and Mobile Ecosystem Forum (“MEF”) has added the UK Gov Notify Sender ID ‘UK-Gov’ to a registry of genuine SMS SenderID’s and at the same time, blocking a number of similar ID’s, which might be used by fraudsters trying to look official.

Publisher note: (WA Ref:115055)

• Cabinet Office (UK Gov Notify Service)Awarded supplier Government Digital Service, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, UK, SW1A 2HQ

No document links were published on the notice.