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Provision and support of on-board passenger Wi-Fi

SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY LIMITED

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

27 Aug 2026 at 12:55

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

22 Jul 2026 at 19:31

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

22 Jul 2026 at 19:17

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

South Western Railway Limited procured services to support and maintain passenger Wi-Fi installed on its trains. The requirement covers service continuity for onboard Wi-Fi across fleet classes 15x, 444, 450, 458, 484 and 701. Icomera is responsible for the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure and associated support, including onboard routers, access points, connectivity modules, firmware, security patches, performance tuning, monitoring and service management. The system connects with train power distribution, data interfaces and physical mounting arrangements, and is managed through Icomera’s cloud platform and Network Operations Centre. The work is delivered onboard South Western Railway’s UK fleet, supporting continuous passenger connectivity while the existing proprietary equipment remains in service.

The procurement is complete and was awarded to Icomera UK Limited. South Western Railway used a direct award under the Procurement Act 2023, relying on Icomera’s intellectual property and exclusive rights, and on the absence of reasonable alternatives. The award date was 22 July 2026. The contract was signed on 1 August 2026 and runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 December 2027, with an option to extend for up to six months to 30 June 2028. Its value is £1,651,816.03 excluding VAT, or £1,982,179.24 including VAT. There was one lot. The agreed performance measures cover SureWAN Gateway availability, Digital Train availability per trainset and OTW System availability per trainset.

This procurement demonstrates demand for specialist rail connectivity support rather than a standard IT support service. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need experience maintaining passenger Wi-Fi across multiple train fleets, integrating equipment with onboard power and data systems, and supporting safety-sensitive railway operations. Relevant capability includes onboard routers, access points and connectivity modules; cloud-based management and analytics; network operations centre monitoring; remote diagnostics; firmware updates; security patching; performance tuning; and service management. Suppliers would also need to demonstrate reliable service continuity across active fleets, understand rolling-stock installation and certification constraints, and manage complex replacement or migration work where proprietary infrastructure is being retired.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision and support of on-board passenger Wi-Fi

Notice Description

The provision of services associated with the support and maintenance of on-board passenger Wi-Fi. Icomera is responsible for the provision of onboard Wi-Fi and the associated support on multiple fleet classes, 15x, 444, 450, 458, 484 and Class 701. The Wi-Fi infrastructure is proprietary to Icomera, and SWRL requires a contract to be in place to ensure service continuity.

Procurement Information

Under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, a direct award is permitted where specific conditions are met. In this case, the criteria under Schedule 5, Paragraphs 5 (a and b) 5. The following conditions are net in relation to the public contract; (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. Icomera are the proprietors and have been responsible for the installation of the Wi-Fi infrastructure, the on-going support, maintenance and service management of the Wi-Fi Infrastructure, on SWRL's fleet since circa 2015. Currently, Icomera is heavily involved with the installation of the Wi-Fi infrastructure associated with the rollout of the 701s. The proprietary devices become end of life circa Dec 2027. Related to this, the Fleet team are undertaking obsolescence review across the entire fleet environment, which the Wi-Fi equipment is a subset. It is therefore cost effective to allow the assets to fulfil their serviceable life following which a capex led procurement will be undertaken once all due diligence has concluded. The justifications for this direct award are based on the following considerations: * Proprietary Infrastructure: The Wi Fi system installed on the rolling stock uses Icomera's proprietary hardware and software platform. This includes the onboard routers, access points, and connectivity modules, all of which are specifically engineered to integrate with Icomera's cloud based management and analytics environment. Firmware updates, security patches, and performance tuning can only be delivered by Icomera, as they retain exclusive control over the configuration and maintenance of this infrastructure. * System Integration: The Icomera solution is tightly embedded within the train's onboard systems, including power distribution, data interfaces, and physical mounting arrangements. Replacing this equipment would require a full redesign of the onboard network architecture, along with re certification of safety critical components and significant re engineering of train systems to support alternative hardware. * Proprietary Monitoring & Management: Icomera's Network Operations Centre (NOC) and remote monitoring ecosystem are purpose built for their proprietary hardware and software stack. Third party providers do not have access to the diagnostic protocols, configuration utilities, or service APIs required to operate, troubleshoot, or maintain the system. As a result, effective management of the infrastructure can only be performed through Icomera's own tools and support channels. * Transition Complexity & Operational Risk: Switching to a new supplier would require full decommissioning of the existing Icomera equipment, procurement and installation of replacement systems, and close coordination with train manufacturers to support integration and testing. This process introduces substantial cost, extended timelines, and elevated operational risk - particularly given the need to maintain continuous service across active fleets.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d14c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081737-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£1,651,816 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£1,651,816 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
27 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
22 Jul 20261 months ago
Contract Period
1 Aug 2026 - 31 Dec 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY LIMITED
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
SE1 9LQ
Postcode Area
South East London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI44 Lewisham and Southwark
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Southwark
Electoral Ward
Borough & Bankside
Westminster Constituency
Bermondsey and Old Southwark

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ICOMERA UK LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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