B-Brussels: UCA 185/08 — bulk SMS gateway services

Request For Proposals

General Information
Country:   Belgium
City/Locality:   BRUSSELS
Notice/Contract Number:   eu:117401-2009
Publication Date:   May 22, 2009
Deadline:   May 29, 2009
Buyer:   COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Original Language:   French

Contact Information
Address:   COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
BRUSSELS  
Belgium
Email:   Click here

Goods, Works and Services

 

Summary

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Notice Type: CONS - Contract notice
Regulation of Procurement: European Institution/Agency or International Organisation
EU Official Journal Publication: 82/2009, #117401-2009
Contract Nature: Service contract
Procedure Type: Restricted procedure
Type of Bid Required: Global tender
Awarding Criteria: The most economic tender


Update: May 22, 2009


Notice Type: CONS - Additional information
Regulation of Procurement: European Institution/Agency or International Organisation
EU Official Journal Publication: 97/2009, #138881-2009
Referenced Document Number: 117401-2009
Contract Nature: Service contract
Procedure Type: Restricted procedure
Type of Bid Required: Global tender
Awarding Criteria: The most economic tender

Corrigendum
(Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, 29.4.2009,
2009/S 82-117401)
Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, attention: Procurement
Coordination Unit, Office 1070 KL 77, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 1048
Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIUM. Tel. +32 22818062. Fax +32 22818093. E-mail:
tendering@consilium.europa.eu
Instead of: II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
(...)
Estimated value excluding VAT: 250 000 EUR.
read: II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
(...)
Estimated value excluding VAT: not applicable.

Original Text

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Contract notice
Services
Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name, addresses and contact point(s): Council of the European Union,
General Secretariat, attention: Procurement Coordination Unit, Office 1070
KL 77, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 1048 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIUM. Tel.
+32 22818062. Fax +32 22818093. E-mail: tendering@consilium.europa.eu
Internet address(es):
General address of the contracting authority:
https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu/
Further information can be obtained at:
As in abovementioned contact point(s).
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for
competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained at:
As in abovementioned contact point(s).
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to:
Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, attention: Procurement
Coordination Unit, Office 1070 KL 77, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 1048
Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIUM. Tel. +32 22818062. Fax +32 22818093. E-mail:
tendering@consilium.europa.eu Internet:
https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu/
For hand and private courier service delivery: chaussée
d'Etterbeek/Etterbeeksesteenweg 70 — Unloading bay, 1048
Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIUM (from 8:30 till 16:30).
I.2) Type of the contracting authority and main activity or activities:
European institution/agency or international organisation.
General public services.
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting
authorities: no.
Section II: Object of the contract
II.1) Description
II.1.1) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:
UCA 185/08 — bulk SMS gateway services.
II.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of
performance: Services.
Service category: No 05.
II.1.3) The notice involves: The establishment of a framework agreement.
II.1.4) Information on framework agreement: Framework agreement with
several operators.
Duration of the framework agreement: Duration in year(s): 4.
II.1.5) Short description of the contract or purchase(s): Provision of
services covering the sending and receiving of SMSs, individually or in a
group, worldwide, via the Internet with the following functionalities:
— a web-based interface to enable users to compose an SMS and select a
recipient list,
— an interface for the exchange of recipient lists,
— an interface for the exchange of both directly uploaded text messages
and received messages.
Currently, the General Secretariat is using mobile phone providers' short
message services (SMS) to send ad hoc information either:
a) to 1 recipient as a single SMS; or
b) to a group of recipients as a bulk SMS.
For example the General Secretariat is sending out ad hoc information
(e.g. about political decisions) to approximately 2 000 to 3 000
journalists attending the European Council summits in Brussels. The
European summits usually take place during 2 days in March, June, October
and December.
The General Secretariat will award a contract for the provision of these
services for an initial duration of 2 years, with 2 possible extensions of
1 year each.
II.1.6) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV): 64212100.
II.1.7) Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
Yes.
II.1.8) Division into lots: No.
II.1.9) Variants will be accepted: No.
II.2) Quantity or scope of the contract
II.2.1) Total quantity or scope: Up to 1 000 000 SMSs to be sent per year
(estimated quantity! This information is not binding on the contracting
authority).
Estimated value excluding VAT: 250 000 EUR.
II.2.2) Options: Yes.
Description of these options: The General Secretariat will award a
contract for the provision of these services for an initial duration of 2
years, with 2 possible extensions of 1 year each.
Number of possible extensions: 2.
II.3) Duration of the contract or time limit for completion: Duration in
months: 48 (from the award of the contract).
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions relating to the contract
III.1.1) Deposits and guarantees required: As specified in the tender
specifications to be sent to the selected candidates.
III.1.2) Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or
reference to the relevant provisions regulating them: As specified in the
tender specifications to be sent to the selected candidates.
III.1.3) Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to
whom the contract is to be awarded: Any grouping is admitted to tender,
independently of its legal status. Groupings (or consortia) will have to
indicate the name of the company and of the person responsible for the
project and will also have to submit a copy of the documents empowering
this company or person to tender or sign a contract in the name of the
grouping/consortium.
Subcontracting is admitted only for activities that do not represent any
major part of the contract. Tenderers will have to indicate clearly in
their offer what parts of the supplies and/or services will be
subcontracted. The names of any subcontractors will have to be specified
clearly in the offer. All members of the groupings (or consortia) as well
as the subcontractors must comply with the same exclusion criteria as the
contractor.
III.1.4) Other particular conditions to which the performance of the
contract is subject: No.
III.2) Conditions for participation
III.2.1) Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements
relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers: Information and
formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
Candidates are asked to submit an application file containing the
documents indicated below (Sections III.2.1, III.2.2 and III.2.3). The
documents submitted must be recent, i.e. dated less than 3 months before
the date of publication of this notice.
Failure to provide sufficient information or the lack of documents may
lead to the request for participation being rejected.
Legal position — means of proof required:
In accordance with Article 93 of the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of the European Communities, candidates are excluded
from taking part in this procurement procedure if they:
a) are bankrupt or being wound up, if their affairs are being administered
by the court or if they have entered into an arrangement with creditors,
if they have suspended business activities, if they are the subject of
proceedings of this nature or if they are in any analogous situation
arising from a similar procedure under national laws and regulations;
b) have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct
by a judgement which has the force of 'res judicata';
c) have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means
which the contracting authorities can justify;
d) have not fulfilled their obligations to pay social security
contributions or taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the
country in which they are established or with those of the country of the
contracting authority, or those of the country where the contract is to be
carried out;
e) have been the subject of a judgement which has the force of 'res
judicata' for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or
any other illegal activity detrimental to the Communities' financial
interests;
f) are currently subject to an administrative penalty (exclusion from
contracts financed by the budget of the European Communities for a maximum
period of 10 years):
— either because, in the framework on another procurement procedure, they
have been guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information
required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in
that procurement procedure or failed to supply this information,
— or because they have been declared to be in serious breach of their
contractual obligations under another contract than that covered by this
contract notice.
In addition, contracts may not be awarded to candidates who during this
procurement procedure:
g) are subject to a conflict of interest;
h) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required
by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the
contract procedure or fail to supply this information.
Candidates have 2 possibilities to prove that they are not in one of the
above situations:
— either they transmit, together with their request to participate, a
declaration on their honour, duly signed by a legal representative of the
company and dated, stating explicitly that they are not in one of the
situations referred to in points (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and
(h). A form for this declaration is available on the Council website on
the Internet (https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu/forms.aspx). In this
case, the successful candidate will have to produce at the end of the
procedure (within 10 working days from the date of the notification of the
award decision and preceding the signature of the contract) the
documentary evidence mentioned below which confirms his previous
declaration,
— or they supply, right from the outset — i.e. together with their request
to participate — documentary evidence for points (a), (b), (d) and (e) as
well as a declaration on their honour for points (c), (f), (g) and (h)
(for a form for this declaration see https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu/
forms.aspx).
The Secretariat accepts as satisfactory evidence that the candidate is not
in one of the situations described in point (a), (b) or (e) an extract
from the judicial record or, failing that, an equivalent document issued
by a judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or
provenance showing that those requirements are satisfied.
The Secretariat accepts as satisfactory evidence that the candidate is not
in the situation described in point (d) a certificate issued by the
competent authority of the Member State concerned. Where the official
document mentioned above is not issued in the country concerned, it may be
replaced by a sworn or, failing that, a solemn statement made by the
person concerned before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary
or a qualified professional body in the candidate's country of origin or
provenance.
Depending on the national legislation of the country in which the
candidate is established, the official documents mentioned above shall
relate to legal persons and/or natural persons including, where considered
necessary by the Secretariat, company directors or any person with powers
of representation, decision-making or control in relation to the
candidate.
III.2.2) Economic and financial capacity: Information and formalities
necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:
1. The standard 'registration form for a call' duly signed and dated by a
person legitimately authorised to represent the company. To complete this
online electronic form, candidates must register for this call for tenders
on 'Consilium Tendering', the Council of the European Union's tendering
platform (https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu).
The procedure is as follows:
(a) if you are not yet registered as a user, click on 'Register' and key
in your particulars, user name and the password of your choice;
(b) click on 'Register for a call' in the 'Actions' menu on the right-hand
side of the screen;
(c) select the call (UCA 185/08);
(d) complete the registration form for a call by keying in details of the
company you represent;
(e) submit the form and print it;
2. proof of their enrolment on the professional or trade register or a
sworn statement or a certificate in accordance with the conditions laid
down in the Member State in which they are established;
3. bank certificate stating the company's financial situation;
4. copy of the balance sheets and trading accounts or other supporting
documents for the past 3 years;
5. statement as to overall turnover and turnover for the services referred
to in the contract (with dispatching of SMSs), realised over the past 3
financial years.
III.2.3) Technical capacity: Information and formalities necessary for
evaluating if requirements are met:
1. Documents certifying the professional standing and technical capability
and the possession of relevant professional experience of at least 3 years
for the provision of similar services.
2. A statement on the candidate's average annual manpower and the number
of technical and managerial staff over the past 3 years.
3. The candidate must prove that he has direct connectivity to SMSCs of at
least 2 different mobile phone operators.
4. The candidate must prove to have sent out at least 1 000 000 SMSs via
his direct connections to SMSCs in the year 2008.
Together with their request to participate, candidates are requested to
enclose a list of contents itemising documents and information contained
in their dossier.
III.2.4) Reserved contracts: No.
III.3) Conditions specific to services contracts
III.3.1) Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession:
No.
III.3.2) Legal entities should indicate the names and professional
qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service:
Yes.
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Type of procedure
IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Restricted.
IV.2) Award criteria
IV.2.1) Award criteria: The most economically advantageous tender in
terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to
tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document.
IV.2.2) An electronic auction will be used: No.
IV.3) Administrative information
IV.3.1) File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:
UCA 185/08.
IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract: No.
IV.3.4) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate:
29.5.2009.
IV.3.5) Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to
selected candidates: 19.6.2009.
IV.3.6) Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be
drawn up: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian,
Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and
Swedish.
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) This is a recurrent procurement: No.
VI.2) Contract related to a project and/or programme financed by EU
funds: No.
VI.3) Additional information: 1. With their request to participate, the
tenderers are invited to include a table of contents describing all the
documents included in their request file.
2. The submitted documents should be originals or copies of good quality.
3. Whilst working in the premises of the contracting authority, the
contractor (including his own personnel and any subcontractor) might come
in contact with EU classified information. Therefore, the Secretariat
reserves the right to require the contractors to be in possession of a
security certificate issued by their National Security Authority. In
addition, certain personnel may be required to produce a similar
individual security certificate. Details will be specified in the
invitation to tender.
The attention of interested parties is drawn to the purpose of this
notice, i.e. the selection of candidates who will receive the tender
documents and be invited to tender. Therefore, they are requested to send
the information required in Section III.2. No further documents are
available at this stage of procedure.
Participation in this procedure is free of charge. The tendering documents
will therefore be available to candidates invited to tender free of
charge. Drawing up a tender does not entitle the tenderer to be awarded
the contract or to receive compensation for any costs incurred. The
contracting authority is under no obligation to award a contract as a
result of this notice.
Tenders/requests to participate must be submitted in writing to the
address indicated in Section I.1 herein above and the envelope must bear
the reference UCA 185/08. Requests to participate submitted by fax or
electronic mail shall be confirmed by letter to be sent before the expiry
of the deadline indicated in the contract notice, Section IV.3.4.
Any additional information will be provided to candidates online on
'Consilium Tendering', the tendering platform of the Council of the EU
(https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu). Furthermore, candidates are asked
to submit any questions related to the call through the same platform. In
order to submit questions and retrieve answers, candidates must first
register as a user on 'Consilium Tendering'. Candidates will be informed
of the outcome of their request to participate through the same platform.
Tendering documents will also be provided to the selected candidates
online (restricted procedure). To receive online access to this
information, the candidates must register for this call for tenders on
'Consilium Tendering'.
Call registration is considered to be a part of the request to
participate. Therefore, the 'Call registration form' duly signed by the
authorised person representing the company and dated must be annexed to
the request to participate.
In order to fill in a call registration form online, candidates must
register for this call for tenders on 'Consilium Tendering', the tendering
platform of the Council of the EU (https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu).
Steps to follow:
a. if not yet registered as a user, select 'Register', fill in your
contact information, user name and password;
b. select 'Register for a call' from the 'Action' menu on the right of the
screen;
c. select the call (UCA 185/08);
d. fill in the call registration form giving details of the company you
are representing;
e. submit the form and print it.
More information on user and call registration as well as detailed
instructions can be obtained at https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu
VI.4) Procedures for appeal
VI.4.1) Body responsible for appeal procedures: Court of First Instance
of the European Communities, boulevard Konrad Adenauer, 2925 Luxembourg,
LUXEMBOURG. Tel. +352 4303-1. Fax +352 433766. E-mail:
ECJ.Registry@curia.europa.eu Internet: http://curia.europa.eu
Body responsible for mediation procedures:
The European Ombudsman, 1 avenue du Président Robert Schuman, BP 403,
67001 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE. Tel. +33 388172313. Fax +33 88179062.
E-mail: euro-ombudsman@europarl.europa.eu Internet:
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu
VI.4.2) Lodging of appeals: Precise information on deadline(s) for
lodging appeals: Within 2 months of the notification to the plaintiff, or,
in absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge. A
complaint to the European Ombudsman does not have as an effect either to
suspend this period or to open a new period for lodging appeals.
VI.4.3) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may
be obtained: Council of the European Union, General Secretariat,
Procurement Coordination Unit, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, 1048
Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIUM. Tel. +32 22818062. Fax +32 22818093. E-mail:
tendering@consilium.europa.eu Internet:
https://tendering.consilium.europa.eu
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 17.4.2009.
Please note that this notice is for your information only.
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