Public Services News Ministry of Finance and Public Administration Communication Costs Cut Ministry of Finance and Public Administration Communication Costs Cut
- 24/04/2009- Estimated 29% cost cuts for mobile voice service and landline-mobile voice gateways
- Estimated cost cuts of over 45% for landline telephone services
- Potential savings of more than 3.6 million Euros in 3 years
Contracting for land mobile services for voice and data, and landline telephony at the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration (MFAP) was conducted by the Secretary General’s Office at this Ministry (SGMFAP) and received comprehensive technical and negotiating support from Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) in terms of setting requirements, assessment factors and negotiating strategy. Contracts were concluded that are cross-cutting for the entire MFAP with uniform provision conditions, including usage indicators for services that may enable future improvements for use, increased alignment of the organisation with the guidelines laid out by the management of the most representative information systems at the Ministry and the obtention of significant cost cuts.
The land mobile service for voice and data contract was conducted through a direct adjustment tendering process under the framework agreements set up by the now defunct Directorate-General for Patrimony (DGP), while the Landline Telephony Service contract was conducted through an international call for tenders, pursuant to Decree Law No. 197/99, of 8th June.
Land mobile voice and data services were awarded to TMN and Vodafone respectively. The procurement process started at the end of November 2007 when invitations to put forward bids were sent to the bodies for the respective framework agreement and concluded March 2008 when the bidders were informed of the winning tenders.
Contracting for the landline telephony service involved contracting in geographic batches, with the first for the Greater Lisbon and the Greater Porto Areas and the second for the rest of Portugal, which were awarded to Oni and PT Comunicações respectively. The procurement process started in January 2008 with the publication of the notice in the Portuguese official journal, Diário da República, and the end in September 2008 when the bidders were informed of the winning tenders.
The following results are of note:
- Estimated cost cuts of 29% for the mobile voice and landline-mobile voice gateways, for the same quantity and distribution of terminals and the same usage profile.
- Estimated cost cuts of over 45% for landline telephony for the same use of infrastructure and usage profile.
- Savings potential of more than 3.6 million Euros, based on user profiles studied and multiannual contract duration (one year, with the possibility of a further two-year renewal).
- Extremely advantageous conditions for the mobile data service, although it is not possible to calculate cost cuts as the MFAP does not have any previous experience in using data boards.
- Operator required to send indicators on service use on a regular basis, which was not previously the case.
- The entire technical and negotiating part of the project was concluded within the planned schedule, with the survey beginning at the end of July 2007 and the land mobile for voice and data report delivered in January 2008, and the report on the landline telephony service in August 2008. The survey on the former was conducted in roughly two months while the report on the latter took four, both with 100% positive responses.
The first centralised communications negotiation success story monitored by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) took place in the Ministry for the Economy and Innovation (MEI). Negotiations were held for Land Mobile, Landline and Data Network Services. This was followed by support for negotiation for data network services for the ITIJ – Institute of Information Technology in Justice and the centralised negotiations for the land mobile service and the landline telephony service that led to a significant Communication Costs Cut at the Ministry for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development (MAOTDR).