RailTel invites tender for selection of business partner for supply and operation of Ground-Based Towers on railway premises

RailTel Corporation of India has invited tenders for Selection of business partner for supply, installation, maintenance, and operation of Ground-Based Towers (GBT/GBM) on railway premises PAN India.

  • Tender Reference Number: RailTel/RFP/OT/CO/Mktg/2022-23/GBT/GBM installation/04
  • Name of Work: Selection of business partner for supply, installation, maintenance, and operation of Ground-Based Towers (GBT/GBM) on railway premises PAN India.
  • EMD: INR 50 Lakhs
  • Period of Contract: 20 Years
  • Document Download / Sale Start Date: 18th August, 2022 
  • Document Download / Sale End Date: 15th September, 2022
  • Pre Bid Meeting: 01st September, 2022
  • Bid Submission Start Date: 18th August, 2022
  • Bid Submission End Date: 15th September, 2022
  • Tender Opening Date: 15th September, 2022

Scope of Work:

  • RailTel invites bids from firms (Telecom Service Providers/IP-1 license holders) having previous experience in installation, maintenance and operation of Ground Based Towers (GBT)/Ground Based Mast(GBM)/ Roof Top Towers (RTT) to supply, install, maintain and operate the GBT/GBM on Railway premises PAN India.
  • RailTel intends to execute a contract engagement with successful bidder/s wherein bidder/s on behalf of RailTel will build/install/manage GBT/GBM at Railway stations/premises (minimum 5000 – excluding the sites where RailTel Towers already present) and the bidder/s will share the annual revenue with RailTel throughout the contract period.
  • The project entails installation of GBTs/GBMs sites across the nation, in Railway premises and continued maintenance & operations of the same by the bidder. All the cost in terms of CAPEX and OPEX to manage the GBTs/GBMs will be borne by the selected bidder, including survey and marketing expenses.
  • Each bidder has to quote for a minimum 2500 GBT/GBM in the financial Bid. H-1 bidder will be awarded installation of minimum 2500 GBT/GBM on Railway stations/premises and H-2 & H-3, if the match H-1 quote, will be awarded installation of minimum 1500 & 1000 GBT/GBM respectively.
  • Based on the bidders requirement, more than one tower (GBT/GBM) can be installed in one station/town/city, subject to feasibility, including Railway approval. However, commitment of minimum 2500 GBT/GBM would be considered for evaluation purposes.
  • Available list of Railway stations with Lat-Long (where RailTel tower is not present) is given in Annexure-VII and List of Railway Colonies is given in Annexure-VIII of the RFP. The RFP is open for the installation of GBT/GBM on all area under Railways Jurisdiction (ie. stations/colonies/offices/factories/institutes etc.) Bidders may also propose to install the GBT/GBM in the locations not defined in the RFP, provided that location comes under Railways jurisdiction.
  • Each GBT/GBM should be capable of providing Managed colocation services for cellular operators/antennae as per clause no.5.1.1. of this RFP document.
  • Bidder to quote highest annual revenue share + yearly escalation % to RailTel per GBT in the pre-defined category of cities, and the bidder quoting highest would be selected for executing the work. Classification of the cities is mentioned in Annexure-VI of this RFP document.
  • Bidder has to submit a preference wise list of 6808 locations (station/colonies etc) with lat-long along with the financial bid, out of which first 2500 locations should contain the minimum no. of city wise locations which comes under all five categories of the cities, as defined in financial bid format. The minimum amount to be quoted on each of the categories of cities is given in the Annexure-VI, the bidder is required to quote the amount higher than the given minimum amount. Any bid received for the lower amount than the given minimum amount shall be rejected.
  • The GBT/GBM will be owned by RailTel. RailTel will lease the GBT/GBM on a long term lease basis for 18 years to the bidder against the quoted revenue share, from the date of its installation. If there is any damage on GBM/GBT or associated infra, during the long term lease period, the same shall be repaired/replaced by the bidder before leaving the site, at their own cost.
  • Each GBT/GBM shall be installed in the approved space of Railways only and as per the drawing/design provided by RailTel. The Bidder may use their own drawings/designs of GBT, provided those are approved by RDSO/ Railway.
  • The minimum height and wind speed of the GBT/GBM should be of minimum 30 metres and designed for 180Kmph wind speed. Based on the location and requirement of the Telcos/customers, the bidder may decide on higher parameters.
  • OFC of the bidder or any third party will not be allowed on the site. In case bandwidth connectivity is required to the sites so created, bidder shall take the bandwidth from RailTel and RailTel will arrange fibre connectivity till the site from its nearest POP. Bandwidth charges will be mutually agreed. Bidder will provide space, power and earthing connection for RailTel to put equipment and terminate OFC in the setup at no cost to RailTel. While there is provision for using MW antennae to use the site, bidders are encouraged to use RailTel’s OFC bandwidth to provide stable and high capacity connectivity.
  • Railways intend to install towers for its own captive LTE/4G requirements, for which it has already been allocated spectrum of 5 MHz in 700 MHz band. So there exists a possibility that one tenancy in such locations may be taken by Railways.
  • Hence, on the advice of RailTel, the bidder shall allow one tenancy to Railway immediately, for which the bidder will be paid 33% of the amount quoted against such GBT/GBM. Hence, after one tenancy allowed to Railways, the bidder shall pay only 67% of the quoted amount for those sites, to RailTel. The bidder in no way shall charge to the Railway directly.
  • In case, the bidder after installation of a GBT/GBM, has leased out the three tenancy to its customer and if no space is available in existing GBM/GBT, and then Railway requirement comes up. The bidder on the request from RailTel has to accommodate Railway as tenancy within 90 days from the date of request, either by vacating one tenant from the GBM/GBT or making alternate GBM/GBT/RTT within the defined timeframe.

Eligibility:

  • The bidder shall be IP-1 licence holders.
  • Bidder shall be a company registered in India since the last five years.
  • Bidder shall be solely responsible for the execution of the project as a single point solution provider.
  • The bidder should have implemented at least 300 GBT/GBM/RTTs ((in total) in the last three financial years. The proof submitted should be in the name of the bidder and not in the name of its group companies/ subsidiary companies/ parent company. Only completed projects will be considered for this criterion.
  • The Bidder should have at least Rs.103 Crore net worth during the previous Financial Year. The net worth should be applicable to the bidder and not for its group companies/ subsidiary companies/ parent company/ consolidated.
  • The Bidder should have an average annual turnover of at least Rs. 500 Crores (Rupees Five Hundred Crore Only) during the last three financial years ending 31st March of the previous Financial Year as on Last Bid Submission Date. The turnover should be applicable to the bidder and not for its group companies/ subsidiary companies/ parent company/ consolidated.
  • The bidder should have at least 100 full time technical professionals involved in installation, commissioning and maintenance of GBT/GBM/RTT infrastructure activity on its rolls.
  • Bidders must not have been blacklisted by any Government Department/ PSUs/ Autonomous Bodies/ Statutory Bodies in India at the time of submission of bid.

The complete documents can be downloaded from https://www.ireps.gov.in


Source: RailTel -Tender | Image Credit (representational): RailTel