Daily: 'Superministry' picks costliest communications provider
Telecoms services at the so-called superministry in central Tallinn will cost three times more than those which could have been provided by a competitor supplier following a tender procedure which excluded the competitors in any case, daily Postimees reports, at a time when public authorities and agencies are expected to make expenses cuts due to soaring energy prices.
The tender ended in mid-September and resulted in Telia being awarded the four-year contract over previous supplier Tele2 and the other major provider in Estonia, Elisa, while the terms of the tender were set up in such a way that out of the three telecom operators, only Telia could meet them, Postimees reports on its English-language page.
Thus no competitive process was involved, while the contract price-tag of €1.2 million needs to be seen in the light of soaring electricity prices and the effects this have had on other public sector organizations such as theaters and museums, who have had to go into the red, Postimees argues.
Elisa's offer was slightly lower than Telia's 1.2 million, while previous supplier Tele2 offered a three-times cheaper rate, though to no avail, while tender organizer the state Information and Communication Technology Center (RIT) had no comment on the matter, Postimees reports (the daily accessed publicly available tender documents in compiling its piece).
Postimees says of concrete objections to Elisa and Tele2, their self-service environment and other tech facets, which arguably were not essential to the service, did not meet the requirements of the tender, adding that while there is no reason the state should have to always pick the cheapest option, there was no reason why justification for picking the most expensive one should be lacking either.
The original Postimees English piece is here.
Minister of Public Administration Riina Solman (Isamaa), whose ministry is housed in the superministry building, recently issued guidelines to state agencies and authorities on how to reduce the room temperatures in order to save energy and reduce energy bills over fall and winter, with options for working from home also suggested.
The superministry building, situated on Suur-Ameerika 1 in central Tallinn, is home to four government ministries, namely: The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Justice.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Postimees
