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Prisoner Telephony Services - Bridging Agreement

Ministry of Justice

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

10 Sep 2026 at 11:39

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

02 Mar 2026 at 17:12

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Planning

02 Mar 2026 at 17:00

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Justice procured prisoner telephony services for prisons in England and Wales operated by HM Prison and Probation Service. The service enables prisoners to make calls to approved contact numbers using personal identification numbers, through in-cell phones, wing phones, mobile PIN phones and staff-to-cell phones. It also includes the associated telecommunications networks, equipment and services, plus exit services supporting transition to the replacement Prisoner Integrated Communications Service. The requirement is a public telecommunications service delivered across the relevant prison estate in England and Wales. It is structured as a concession because it is predominantly funded by income from prisoners purchasing phone credit. The service supports contact with family and friends, contributing to prisoner wellbeing, order and discipline, rehabilitation and reduced reoffending.

The procurement is complete and was awarded on 7 September 2026 to British Telecommunications Limited, also recorded as British Telecommunications plc (BT). It used a single-supplier direct award under the Procurement Act 2023, on the stated grounds of exclusive intellectual property rights and absence of competition for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternative identified. The award covers one lot and has a gross value of £113.54 million, or £94.62 million excluding tax. The contract period runs from 1 June 2027 to 30 November 2031. BT is to continue the existing service on substantially the same terms while the Ministry of Justice governs, procures, mobilises, tests and transitions to the replacement service. A signature milestone was scheduled for 22 September 2026.

For future work with this buyer, credible suppliers will need secure, resilient telecommunications expertise suited to custodial environments, including managed voice services, specialist telephone networks, fixed and mobile PIN-based calling, in-cell and wing infrastructure, and staff-to-cell communications. The incumbent requirement shows the importance of continuity, controlled access to approved numbers and dependable operation across a large prison estate. Suppliers should be able to support complex mobilisation, testing, transition and service exit, while working within strong governance and public-sector security requirements. Experience integrating or replacing bespoke legacy platforms would be particularly relevant because the existing service is being replaced by a next-generation communications service. The requirement also indicates a need for commercial models that can operate partly through end-user income and for suppliers able to deliver at substantial national scale.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Prisoner Telephony Services - Bridging Agreement

Notice Description

This direct award procurement is a concession contract to continue the existing prisoner telephony service for the prisons in England and Wales which are run by HM Prison and Probation Service. The Bridging Agreement is drafted as an extension/contract change notice to the current PTS contract. The prisoner telephony service (PTS) is currently provided by British Telecommunications Limited (company number 01800000) (BT) in the prisons in England and Wales which are run by HM Prison and Probation Service and has been for several years. The ability for prisoners to maintain relationships with family and friends is critical as it contributes to prisoners' wellbeing, order and discipline, rehabilitation, and a reduction in the likelihood of reoffending. The main communication channel in use currently is voice calls, provided by the PTS. PTS is a critical service which allows prisoners to make phone calls to approved contact numbers using a unique personal identification number (PIN). The PTS scope includes use of in-cell phones, wing phones, mobile PIN phones and staff to cell phones. This direct award, known as the Bridging Agreement, will bridge the period between 1 June 2027 (the current contract expires on 31 May 2027) up to 30 November 2031, which is the period required to enable governing, procuring, mobilising, testing and transitioning to the replacement next generation communications service called the Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS). Under the Bridging Agreement, BT will continue to provide the PTS on substantially the same terms as the current PTS contract together with exit services to transition to PICS. PTS is procured as a concession contract as it is predominately funded from the income generated by prisoners who purchase phone credit from BT. The contracting authority (MOJ) is relying on the single supplier direct award justifications under section 41 and schedule 5 paragraphs 5 and/or 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 in the alternative: -paragraph 5 (a)due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. and in the alternative: -paragraph 6 (a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. The explanations for why the justifications apply are as follows: Intellectual property rights - paragraph 5. This justification applies because only BT has the intellectual property rights needed to be able to provide the services. This is a consequence of the intellectual property clauses in the current PTS contract and the Bridging Agreement. No reasonable alternatives In the absence of the intellectual property rights that would be needed for an alternative supplier to be able to provide the services, the only reasonable potential alternative would be for MOJ to procure another supplier/s to develop a replacement solution that meets MOJ's requirements - whether building from scratch or configuring a commercial-off-the-shelf solution. Any replacement supplier/s would then need time for mobilising, testing and transitioning to that replacement solution after it had been appropriately governed and procured by MOJ. There is not sufficient time to do all these activities which would be necessary to transition to a replacement solution by the date the services are required, which is 1 June 2027. This is evidenced by the number of years it is taking to replace the PTS and transition to the next generation replacement service, PICS. PICS is being designed for use in the prisons in England and Wales which are run by HM Prisons and Probation Service and will be rolled out incrementally over time to eventually end use of the PTS service. MOJ is approximately two years into the PICS project. The direct award for the Bridging Agreement is for the period required to facilitate MOJ procuring, governing, testing, mobilising and transitioning from PTS to PICS. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives. The second justification is absence of competition for technical reasons - paragraph 6 There is an absence of competition for technical reasons which are based on the same arguments as for the intellectual property rights justification under paragraph 5, which are stated above. The PTS is bespoke and an alternative supplier would not be able to walk in and take over the services on the date from which they are required due to the intellectual property rights of BT. Instead, there would have to be an appropriately governed procurement/s and then the selected supplier/s would have to mobilise, test and then transition to that service and as stated in the justification under paragraph 5 above, this is not possible to do by the time the services are required on 1 June 2027. No reasonable alternatives The same justifications, stated above, for why there are no reasonable alternatives for paragraph 5 intellectual property rights, apply to the justification for paragraph 6. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives. For background information, MOJ has conducted several forms of preliminary market engagement for PICS to replace the Bridging Agreement. Following that market engagement, MOJ has been developing plans for the future. MOJ anticipates that the contracts for prisoner telephony services to support PICS will be let through relevant frameworks agreements such as RM6377 Network Services 4, RM6098 Technology Products & Associated Services (TePAS) 2 and/or TePAS 3 operated by the Government Commercial Agency (GCA); Procurements to commence after February 2027. Prospective suppliers are encouraged to engage with GCA (gca.gov.uk) and/or on-framework suppliers to participate in framework opportunities. To obtain information from the preliminary market engagement which has occurred already and to register for updates for PICS, please contact vvn.cmo@justice.gov.uk Note: With effect on 25 June 2026, BT registered a change at Companies House to reflect its re-registration from a plc. Whilst the company's name has changed, the legal entity remains the same with the same company number.

Procurement Information

The prisoner telephony service (PTS) is currently provided by British Telecommunications plc (BT) in the prisons in England and Wales which are run by HM Prison and Probation Service and has been for several years. The ability for prisoners to maintain relationships with family and friends is critical as it contributes to prisoners' wellbeing, order and discipline, rehabilitation, and a reduction in the likelihood of reoffending. The main communication channel in use currently is voice calls. Voice calls are provided by the PTS. PTS is a critical service which allows prisoners to make phone calls to approved contact numbers using a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN). The PTS includes the use of in-cell phones, wing phones, mobile PIN phones and staff to cell phones. The proposed direct award, known as the Bridging Agreement, is being entered into in 2026 and will bridge the period for which the PTS is required, which is between 1 June 2027 (the current contract expires on 31 May 2027) up to 30 November 2031. This is the period required to enable governing, procuring, mobilising, testing and transitioning to the replacement next generation communications service called the Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS). Under the Bridging Agreement, BT will continue to provide the PTS on substantially the same terms as the current PTS contract together with exit services to transition to PICS. PTS is procured as a concession contract as it is predominately funded from the income generated by prisoners who purchase phone credit from BT. The Bridging Agreement will be drafted as an extension/contract change notice to the current PTS contract. The contracting authority (MOJ) is relying on the single supplier direct award justifications under section 41 and schedule 5 paragraphs 5 and/or 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 in the alternative: paragraph 5 (a)due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. and in the alternative: paragraph 6 (a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. The explanations for why the justifications apply are as follows. Intellectual property rights - paragraph 5. This justification applies because due to the intellectual property clauses in the current PTS contract and the Bridging Agreement only BT has the intellectual property rights needed to be able to provide the services. No reasonable alternatives In the absence of the intellectual property rights that would be needed for an alternative supplier to be able to provide the services, the only reasonable potential alternative would be for MOJ to procure another supplier/s to develop a replacement solution that meets MOJ's requirements - whether building from scratch or configuring a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) solution. Any replacement supplier/s would then need time for mobilising, testing and transitioning to that replacement solution after it had been appropriately governed and procured by MOJ. There is not sufficient time to do all these activities which would be necessary to transition to a replacement solution by the date the services are required, which is 1 June 2027. This is evidenced by the number of years it is taking to replace the PTS and transition to the next generation replacement service, PICS. PICS is being designed for use in the prisons in England and Wales which are run by HM Prisons and Probation Service and will be rolled out incrementally over time to eventually end use of the PTS service. MOJ is approximately two years into the PICS project. The direct award for the Bridging Agreement is for the period required to facilitate MOJ procuring, governing, testing, mobilising and transitioning from PTS to PICS. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives. The second justification is absence of competition for technical reasons - paragraph 6 There is an absence of competition for technical reasons which are based on the same arguments as for the intellectual property rights justification under paragraph 5, which are stated above. The PTS is bespoke and an alternative supplier would not be able to walk in and take over the services on the date from which they are required due to the intellectual property rights of BT. Instead, there would have to be an appropriately governed procurement/s and then the selected supplier/s would have to mobilise, test and then transition to that service and as stated in the justification under paragraph 5 above, this is not possible to do by the time the services are required on 1 June 2027. No reasonable alternatives The same justifications, stated above, for why there are no reasonable alternatives for paragraph 5 intellectual property rights, apply to the justification for paragraph 6. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives. For background information, MOJ has conducted several forms of preliminary market engagement for PICS to replace the Bridging Agreement. Following that market engagement, MOJ has been developing plans for the future. MOJ intends to provide details of its procurement plans for PICS via pipeline notice(s) and further market engagement as the PICS project progresses through MOJ's governance. The procurement for the first PICS contract is estimated to commence in 2027. To obtain information from the preliminary market engagement which has occurred already and to register for updates for PICS, please contact vvn.cmo@justice.gov.uk

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-066032
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085787-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

32 - Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment

45 - Construction work

64 - Postal and telecommunications services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

32410000 - Local area network

32412100 - Telecommunications network

32500000 - Telecommunications equipment and supplies

32550000 - Telephone equipment

32551400 - Telephone network

32552130 - Public telephones

45232300 - Construction and ancillary works for telephone and communication lines

64200000 - Telecommunications services

72710000 - Local area network services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£94,620,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£94,620,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Sep 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
2 Mar 2026Expired
Award Date
7 Sep 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Jun 2027 - 30 Nov 2031 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Ministry of Justice
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

BT PLC

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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