---
title: "Prisoner Payphone Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-036527"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-036527"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-036527.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-036527.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE"
published: "2022-09-02"
---

# Prisoner Payphone Service

Buyer: MINISTRY OF JUSTICE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-036527

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-036527)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-036527.json)

## Summary

The Ministry of Justice has awarded a contract for the "Prisoner Payphone Service" to British Telecommunications plc. This concession contract, initiated through a tender process, aims to provide telephone services to prisoners in HM Prison and Probation Service-operated prisons. The contract, with a total value of £116,900,000, was signed on 30th August 2022 and will run until 31st May 2026, with an optional 12-month exit assistance period. The service improvements include transitioning to a next-generation solution and aligning with modern technologies.

This procurement opportunity provides business growth prospects for companies offering telecommunications services, particularly in the field of prisoner communications. Businesses adept at managing large-scale service provision in regulated environments and implementing secure telecommunication solutions would be well-suited to compete. The procurement method employed for this tender was a limited award procedure without prior publication, aimed at streamlining the process due to the absence of competition for technical reasons and the necessity of exclusive rights protection.

## Notice

This is a concession contract between the Secretary of State for Justice (MoJ) and British Telecommunications plc (BT), dated 30 August 2022, for the provision of telephone services to prisoners in prisons operated by MoJ through its executive agency, HM Prison and Probation Service (the Extension). The Extension updates, on similar terms, an existing contract procured under the Public Contracts Regulations 1993 (the Contract). The Extension will expire on 31 May 2026, with a further optional 12-month period during which BT will provide exit assistance. This is the minimum required duration to facilitate MOJ going to market for the procurement of, and smooth transition to, a next generation service solution. Under the Extension BT will provide substantially the same services on substantially the same terms as the Contract with additional investment from BT to provide necessary service improvements as described in section II.2.4.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Extension facilitates the procurement of, and smooth transition to, a next generation prison telephone service solution, as well as providing for necessary service improvements. Provisions are included in the Extension around intellectual property, exit planning and asset transfer. During the term of the Extension, BT will complete the installation of an internet protocol-based service in all HMPPS prisons. This will replace the current ISDN-based service, which will become unavailable in 2025. BT will also make investments to improve the service provided to MoJ and prisoners, to better align the services with current technologies available to members of the public. The Extension also introduces some amendments to ensure greater consistency with current Government commercial and procurement policies (e.g., freedom of information and transparency, compliance with tax obligations and modernised security requirements). The Extension is permitted by virtue of the concession contract award procedure or the negotiated procedure (as applicable) without the publication of a concession or contract notice, as applicable, because the services can only be provided by BT. This is because competition is absent for technical reasons and/or the protection of exclusive rights, no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and MoJ has not artificially narrowed the scope of the procedure, as more fully described in section IV.1.1 below. Alternatively, MoJ considers that neither the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 nor the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 apply to the Contract, the Extension is an amendment to the Contract, and MoJ has published this notice voluntarily in the interests of maximum transparency. Alternatively, the Extension is a modification of the Contract and the modifications provided for by the Extension are not substantial and therefore permitted because: (1) the modified Contract will be substantially of the same character as the Contract when it was originally let. BT will continue to provide telephone services to prisoners on a concession basis and will not provide additional services unrelated to telephony. BT will continue to provide telephone services to prisoners in each case subject to meeting MoJ's security requirements to prevent misuse; (2) the modified Contract will require BT to make additional investment, change the contract management mechanisms, clarify the position concerning intellectual property rights, and make better provision for the transition of service from BT to any replacement supplier(s). The conditions would not - had they been part of the original contract award procedure - have attracted additional participants to the award procedure, seen the selection of different applicants to participate in the procurement, or seen the award of the Contract to a different organisation; (3) the terms of the Extension require BT to make investment in the system used to provide the services within prisons; (4) the extension does not extend the scope of the Contract, in that it continues to relate only to prisons operated by HMPPS. The duration of the proposed extension is up to 31 May 2026 (with an additional optional 12 month exit period) . This is not a considerable extension of scope compared to the duration of the Contract provided for in the original Contract, and/or compared to the existing duration of the Contract. The value of the Extension in section V.2.4 is an estimate of the total amount that prisoners will pay to BT under the Extension and does not represent any sums that MoJ will pay to BT. The amount that BT will receive under the Extension depends on prisoner use of the system, which has significant uncertainties. The value in section IV.2.4 represents an estimate based on certain usage scenarios.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024585-2022 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 2 Sep 2022 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 29 Aug 2022 |
| Contract period | 31 Aug 2022 - 31 May 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £116,900,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £116,900,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF JUSTICE |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1H 9AJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 64 - Postal and telecommunications services

### Codes

- 64200000 - Telecommunications services
- 64212000 - Mobile-telephone services
- 64212100 - Short Message Service (SMS) services
- 64212800 - Pay phone provider services
- 64212900 - Pre-paid phone card provider services
- 64215000 - IP telephone services

## Release History

- 2 Sep 2022 at 09:25 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024585-2022

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-036527. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-036527.json.