---
title: "4,969,433.16"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05d704"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05d704"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d704.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d704.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF DEFENCE"
published: "2025-10-30"
---

# 4,969,433.16

Buyer: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05d704

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d704.json)

## Summary

The Ministry of Defence has completed a procurement process for enhancing business broadband services provided by Sure South Atlantic Ltd across the Falkland Islands. This contract, valued at £4,969,433.16, aims to supply business broadband service to British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) covering 85 sites and servicing 1052 users. The procurement was classified under telecommunication services, excluding telephone and data transmission services and falls in the services category. Notably, this contract, which proceeded without a prior call for competition due to specific exemptions, was finalised with the signing date recorded as 1st October 2025 and currently holds an active status. The tender process applied was 'limited', specifically designed to allow a direct award under particular legal conditions, and it effectively bypassed certain public procurement directives owing to its nature and scope.

This procurement offers substantial growth potential for businesses within the telecommunications industry, particularly those with the capability to provide advanced broadband solutions to remote and strategic locations like the Falkland Islands. Companies akin to Sure South Atlantic Ltd, especially small and medium enterprises that can ensure robust network infrastructure and services, would be well-poised to compete in similar tenders. The opportunity underscores the importance of establishing a solid technical capability and maintaining close adherence to procurement guidelines, potentially fostering partnerships with national defence bodies. Businesses that can fulfil such niche contractual requirements are likely to find similar opportunities both challenging and rewarding, endorsing their expertise and capacity in specialised telecommunication services.

## Notice

The requirement is to provide a business broadband service with Wi-Fi distribution and interconnects for BFSAI across the Falkland Islands to 1052 users across 85 sites. Welfare broadband is excluded from this requirement.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

the requirement is to provide a Business Broadband Service to BFSAI - Falkland Islands using both wired and wireless access

### Procurement Information

Where the proposed contract is below threshold At PS407,629.74 (in effect inc of VAT as there is no VAT in the FIs) your proposed 2-year new contract award is below the PA23 financial thresholds for a Defence and Security Contract (as defined by s. 7 which you have confirmed this contract will fall within). As such you are not a "covered procurement" for the purposes of the Act. This means, as far as the Act is concerned, you have significantly greater freedoms in terms of your Route to Market where you are looking to make a direct award - in effect your obligations under the Act including notice requirements are switched off. That said, I believe that MoD Policy still requires you to advertise and compete these below threshold procurements where viable. You would still have UK Public Law legal duties to act reasonably and a breach of MoD Policy could be relied on by an aggrieved supplier to challenge the award on the grounds that MoD had not acted reasonably. As a result, the fact your proposed contract is below threshold does not in and of itself give you the right to make a direct award. However, here you have also put forward a quasi - technical reasons ground for a direct award to SURE on the basis that competition is not viable. Had you been above the PA23 threshold and a covered procurement, meaning the full Act regime would have applied, then this would have given you direct award grounds under para. 6 schd 5 and so you can use this fact to demonstrate that MoD is acting reasonably here iaw UK public law where the PA23 doesn't apply. You should also look to publish a "MoD VTN or informal Transparency Notice" to meet your MoD Policy transparency obligations and we can look at the wording of this in due course. (In other words, you wouldn't publish a formal Transparency Notice in the new PA23 platform but you could publish an informal one iaw with MoD Policy.) Looking at your SSJ rationale I think this needs tweaking a bit to ensure your audit trail is robust. I do wonder whether the rationale you have sent me is an earlier draft and has been since improved when looking at the previous award? For example, it states that: " ...it is considered that the award of a single source contract is lawful for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights on technical grounds" - however you are not relying on protection of ER (which is a different ground under DSPCR and PA23) and are just relying on TR. If the total contract value creeps up and reaches the PA23 threshold The potential fly in the ointment is if the total value of the negotiated contract creeps up and exceeds the Defence & Security contract threshold under PA23 of PS426, 955 (inc VAT). In such circumstances the PA23 will deem it a "covered procurement" and the full PA23 regime will apply (absent an exemption ground). You are considering whether an exemption switching off PA23 might apply pursuant to para. 28 schd 2 of the Act. However, I think there would be problems with trying to rely on this exemption (and in fact para 27 which is quite similar). This is because the factual position with your proposed contract does not really fit with the criteria you must meet in order to rely on para 28 - as strictly speaking the FI government is not requiring MoD to procure these connectivity services with SURE. In fact, my understanding is that the FI govt only has an exclusivity agreement with SURE for civilian connectivity and so the real reason why you have to contract with this supplier for military connectivity is because indirectly only SURE have the necessary infrastructure on Island to deliver this requirement. As a result, my advice would be to not try to rely on this exemption here and simply rely on Technical Reasons - para. 6 schd 5 PA23 - to make the direct award. You would also need to comply with the PA23 notice provisions including the requirement to publish a Transparency Notice.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069683-2025 |
| 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 | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 30 Oct 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 30 Sep 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £4,969,433 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF DEFENCE |
| Locality | CORSHAM |
| Post town | Swindon |
| Postcode | SN13 9GB |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| ITL 3 | TLK72 Wiltshire |
| Local authority | Wiltshire |
| Electoral ward | Corsham Without |
| Westminster constituency | Chippenham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SURE SOUTH ATLANTIC |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 32 - Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment
- 64 - Postal and telecommunications services

### Codes

- 32412100 - Telecommunications network
- 64220000 - Telecommunication services except telephone and data transmission services

## Release History

- 30 Oct 2025 at 11:42 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/069683-2025

## Notice URLs

- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwioooXT58uQAxUfT0EAHTKaKhIQFnoECBgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.contracts.mod.uk%2F&usg=AOvVaw23esGPI_6uePA764SaLdRS&opi=89978449

## 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-05d704. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d704.json.