WAN communication links for small sites in the state of Hesse in two lots

The subject of this lot is the procurement of the Hesse-wide connections of the Hessian education and school administration (hereinafter referred to as schools) to the HZD data center with defined bandwidths and defined quality via an Internet-independent provider xDSL solution as well as corresponding services in this environment.

Connections of the Hessian school administration network

Connections in the form of ADSL as well as other types of connections (VDSL and Ethernet) are to be offered. The type of connection depends on the location and its requirements.

ADSL connections

Within the framework of the school administration network, the following connections with an unlimited data volume will be offered:

• ADSL 16 Mbit/s (Zielprodukt)

Other Connection Types

For individual locations with, for example, a very high number of administrative computers, where the available ADSL target bandwidth or the bandwidth realized with a fixed connection alternative of at least 3 Mbit/s is not sufficient, the following additional products are to be offered on a DSL and fixed connection basis:

• VDSL 100 Mbit/s

• Ethernet 10 Mbit/s

The price of the corresponding shopping cart item is remunerated at the terms of the framework agreement. If VDSL is not feasible by the Contractor at the respective location, the Client decides on the retrieval of the Ethernet product.

Hourly wage work

Hourly rates are to be offered for special, additional work that is not part of the flat-rate services listed in the service description and that is carried out as additional hourly wage work with the prior written consent of the Client. The Contractor's proof of performance must be submitted to the Client as part of the monthly statement.

The work is to be offered in three qualification levels:

• System specialist or service engineer (e.g. planning or exploration work or measurements)

• Service technicians (e.g. commissioning of the company's own equipment at the site)

• Craftsmen (e.g. laying passive cabling)

The hourly rates are valid in the periods Mon.-Fri. (except on public holidays in Hesse) from 08:00 to 18:00.

Additional structural measures in the building

For additional work that is not part of the services included in the chapter "Routing within the building" listed in the specification of services and that are carried out as additional structural measures in the building with the prior written consent of the Client, correspondingly flat-rate service items are to be offered.

This work is to be planned in consultation with the client and the property management department. The following service positions are to be offered:

• Flat rate for wall/ceiling breakthrough

If wall/ceiling openings are necessary for the additional cable routing, the work will be carried out professionally by trained personnel in accordance with the applicable legal requirements. The necessary tools are provided by the Contractor. Additional necessary small material is covered. The construction site is left cleaned, and any construction waste that may arise is professionally removed and disposed of.

• Flat rate for opening and closing fire bulkheads

If it is necessary to open and close fire bulkheads for the additional cable routing, the work will be carried out professionally by trained personnel in accordance with the applicable legal requirements and fire protection regulations. The necessary tools are provided by the Contractor. The fire protection compound for sealing the fire bulkhead and, if necessary, any additional small material required are covered. The construction site is left cleaned, and any construction waste that may arise is professionally removed and disposed of.

• Supply and lay cable routing route (flat rate per meter laid)

If existing cable routing routes are not sufficiently dimensioned for the additional cable routing or if new ones are otherwise necessary, the work will be carried out professionally by trained personnel in accordance with the applicable legal requirements and fire protection regulations. In doing so, attention must be paid to the situation specified by the customer with regard to necessary adjustments / extensions (e.g. ceiling heights, ceiling panels, underbody routing, etc.). If an existing cable management system is supplemented or extended, the existing model, if available, is decisive. The necessary tools are provided by the Contractor. All material required for professional execution for cable routing as well as small material are covered. The construction site is left cleaned, and any construction waste that may arise is professionally removed and disposed of.

Ensuring the quality of service

In order to ensure the quality of service, the Client requires the use of appropriate management techniques for:

• Avoidance of foreseeable bottlenecks in the network

• Ensuring the required availability

• Reduction of error frequency and downtime

• Ensuring the required safety

• Timely initiation of countermeasures

• Monitoring of compliance with internal operating parameters

- Immediate detection and processing of problems or malfunctions that have arisen

- Triggering and monitoring of escalation

Störungsbearbeitung (Incident Management)

The services offered are backed up with service parameters (SLA). The Contractor is responsible for the operation of these services for the entire transmission path.

Eskalationsprozeduren

If a fault cannot be rectified within the agreed maximum fault clearance period, escalation management procedures come into effect. Escalation management serves to bring about decisions in a structured and orderly manner that could not be brought about at the level of the people and roles previously involved. With the conclusion of the contract, both parties agree on a defined escalation management, at the end of which an agreement must be reached.

Bereitstellungsleistungen

The provision services to be carried out by the Contractor for connections in the context of the new installation consist of all activities, construction measures, required equipment and other devices and materials to be carried out for the functional installation and commissioning.

Actions to be carried out are:

• On-site installation

• Configuration of the necessary system parameters

• Verification of functionality by the Contractor

• Approval for acceptance by the Client

Phases of service provision

The provision of the services is divided into two phases:

• Migration incl. coordination:

- All points of the provision of services that still need to be specified at the conclusion of the contract will be conclusively clarified and recorded.

- A joint approach for upgrading the technical infrastructure for the provision of the service is coordinated (gateway construction, parallel provisioning, organization, ...).

- As part of the migration phase, the telephony solution will be piloted and functionally approved at the beginning.

- A joint procedure for the takeover of the inventory (migration) is coordinated and documented between the Client and the Contractor.

- The complete provision of the inventory by the Contractor marks the end of the migration.

- The envisaged period should not exceed nine months from the start of the contract and must not exceed 12 months.

• During regular operation, the offered service is provided with all the properties offered. Regular operation begins for new services from the start of the contract and for existing services from the time they are transferred to the Contractor's portfolio. Regular operation therefore also includes new orders from the date of commencement of the contract. Regular operation will end depending on the extension options, but no later than 31.03.2027.

Further details can be found in the tender specifications (file "Specifications Lot 1").

The subject of this lot is the procurement of Internet-independent xDSL connections operated by the provider, wired substitute products or mobile phone-based emergency connections to the HZD data center as well as corresponding services in this environment. In addition to a few connections for institutions and offices of the state of Hesse, the majority of connections to locations of the Hessen-Forst user group are to be procured. As a special feature, the telephone connections of the HessenForst user group are to be continued with the existing telephone numbers as a telephony service.

The majority of the xDSL connections in this lot are assigned to the closed user group HessenForst, which is organizationally divided into 39 forestry offices as well as locations of the state management and HF technology. The office workplaces of the district managers are located close to the places of operation and are therefore mainly located near the edge of the forest or on the outskirts of mostly small villages. Today, the district offices in Hesse are connected to the HZD data center via ADSL and VDSL of various bandwidth categories (fallback options), depending on availability. The xDSL connections from HessenForst are bundled with a VoIP/SIP-based provider solution for voice telephony. In addition to these combined data and voice connections of the HessenForst user group, there is a small number of simple data connections (without telephony) from other departments and institutions of the state of Hesse.

The connections of the small sites to the central infrastructures in Wiesbaden consist of a mix of ADSL, VDSL and - in locations where no other way is possible - Ethernet fixed connections. This mix is due to the general location availability of the individual connection products of the existing provider.

The cable routing for all connections is implemented via the provider's own network, without a transition to the Internet, and is brought to the HZD data center in Wiesbaden via a managed provider platform solution with a central gateway system.

HessenForst would like to continue to purchase voice telephony as a bundled service in the future. Therefore, a VoIP-based telephony function is required within the scope of this lot, which is reliably made available on the basis of the underlying xDSL data connection, provided that the existing numbers continue to operate.

Migrationsbestand

The Client is aware that not all connections can be supplied with the desired product. The quantities per product contained in the price sheet serve as a basis for calculation. The connection types that can actually be implemented by the Contractor must be specified in the location list and evaluated accordingly.

For DSL connections of the HessenForst user group, the aim is to supply the new target product VDSL 100Mbit/s (including VDSL fallback options).

If ADSL is currently developed at the site and the data rate of the connection is in the upper data rate range of a full-fledged ADSL 16 Mbit/s (data rate > 13984/2400 kbit/s), a conversion to VDSL is not necessary. If a poorer ADSL data rate is pronounced, a switch to VDSL and the associated increase in data rate should take place. If VDSL is not possible, the connection remains on ADSL as long as the minimum data rate is reached.

Connections with Ethernet 2 Mbit/s should, if possible, be converted to an xDSL product above minimum data rate, otherwise the connection will remain on the previous product. A general switch to Ethernet 4 or 8 Mbit/s is not desired and will be requested separately in individual cases.

For the other state offices, the aim is to provide the already developed product, an ADSL connection 16 Mbit/s.

The Contractor must assume that the state of expansion will change continuously, especially at HessenForst.

External circumstances that cannot be reliably determined may result in changes in quantity (relocation, elimination and new connections).

In the context of organizational changes and consolidations or changed requirements for the IT architecture of HessenForst, the number of connections may be reduced. Against this background, an annual reduction of the total quantities of approx. 3-4% can be assumed for the xDSL connections of HessenForst. This corresponds to a total reduction of about 50 connections over the term of the contract. In addition, about 20 relocations or new connections are to be made available each year.

With increasing digitalization and a generational change of connection users at HessenForst, high-performance connections with higher data rates have become increasingly important in recent years. At the same time, coverage in rural areas remains patchy. Accordingly, there is a desire to benefit from the broadband expansion of all providers in Hesse and to be able to use fiber-optic products that are independent of the Internet in the future. Therefore, in addition to the ADSL and VDSL product categories, the alternative product category of fiber-based connections is pronounced. The Contractor is requested to provide the locations where FTTH/FTTB is possible with the corresponding product type that deviates from the target product in the site list.

In absolute individual cases, a mobile phone-based connection that is independent of the Internet may be the only remaining option for connecting a remote location. This fact is taken into account by the creation of an additional product category. Accordingly, depending on the availability of wired connection variants, a small proportion of connections are to be expected to shift towards mobile communications-based emergency solutions.

DSL-Landesanschlüsse

Connections in the form of VDSL and ADSL are to be offered. The type of connection depends on the location and its requirements. As part of the national connections, the following xDSL connections with unlimited data volume are to be offered:

• VDSL 100 Mbit/s (target product for HessenForst)

• ADSL 16 Mbit/s (target product for national connections)

Additional requirements of the HessenForst user group

All locations were to be connected via wired connections.

In addition to data transmission, the transmission of voice telephony must also be enabled. For this purpose, the Contractor must offer IP-based telephony functions as a bundled service for all connection types. This also applies to the alternative connection types described below and the emergency solution of the HessenForst user group.

The charges for voice calls to all national fixed and mobile networks as well as European fixed network connections must be included in the prices for the connections. The prices for the remaining international connections, connections to special numbers and directory enquiry services are not added, the tariff offers of the Contractor apply here.

xDSL connections

The target product is, as described, a connection of these locations with VDSL, if possible with full data rate, ADSL and VDSL fallback options up to the defined minimum data rate are accepted.

Fiber-optic connections

If it is possible to supply the site on the basis of FTTH/FTTB and a higher data rate than that of a VDSL-100, this type of connection is preferred, provided that it is commercially viable. Since it is not the target product, an individual decision is made by the end customer HessenForst.

Alternatives for low-bandwidth supply

For individual locations where VDSL connections are not feasible for technical reasons, the Contractor can also implement other DSL variants with different bandwidths.

If none of the xDSL variants is feasible or if the data rate of the xDSL connection is not sufficient, the Contractor should offer comparable wired solutions as an alternative. On separate request, the following Ethernet connections with unlimited data volume are to be offered:

• Ethernet 2 Mbit/s (wired minimum solution for HessenForst)

• Ethernet 4 Mbit/s

• Ethernet 8 Mbit/s

Emergency solution in case of insufficient or no supply

In the event that a sufficiently high-performance wired copper or fiber-optic connection to a site is not possible, or due to too cost-intensive development work at a site, a mobile phone-based connection is accepted as an emergency solution. Like all wired variants, this is also independent of the Internet. The use of mobile connections must therefore not exceed 15% of all connections.

Cellular-based connections are selectable in the location list, and as this is an emergency solution, they are evaluated accordingly. The following products must be offered on separate request:

• Mobile LTE (4G) with SIM card incl. a flat-rate data volume

• Mobile 5G with SIM card incl. a flat-rate data volume

Hourly wage work

Hourly rates are to be offered for special, additional work that is not part of the flat-rate services listed in the service description and that is carried out as additional hourly wage work with the prior written consent of the Client.

The work is to be offered in three qualification levels:

• System specialist or service engineer (e.g. planning or exploration work or measurements)

• Service technicians (e.g. commissioning of the company's own equipment at the site)

• Craftsmen (e.g. laying passive cabling)

Further details can be found in the tender specifications (file "Specifications of Lot 2").