Managed Bandwidth Links – Garden Route

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), on behalf of the South African National Research Network (SANReN), has issued a Request for Proposals for the provision of five managed bandwidth links between research and education sites in the Western Cape, the Garden Route and Gqeberha. The required links connect CHPC Cape Town, SANSA Hermanus, NMU George, NMU Port Elizabeth, Teraco Rondebosch and UCT George Res, forming a resilient regional research network. Each link must provide a committed 10Gbps capacity over fixed-line, end-to-end optical fibre, terminating on active equipment at specified sites with 10GBASE-LR Ethernet handoffs, Jumbo Frame and Link Loss Forwarding support, and AC-powered equipment terminating on patch panels.

Reliability and service quality are central to the evaluation. Bidders must guarantee a minimum end-to-end uptime of 98% calculated quarterly, provide a Service Level Agreement with 24/7 Network Operations Centre access, a maximum four-hour response time and an eight-hour maximum service restoration time. Proposals must detail maintenance procedures, fault monitoring and reporting, and a project plan. Delivery within three months of award earns full marks in the evaluation, while delivery between three and nine months earns partial marks. Acceptance requires 24-hour soak test results, BER test results, routing maps, customer acceptance certificates for access builds, and as-deployed documentation including photographs and labelled demarcation points.

A distinctive feature of this tender is its emphasis on network resilience. The CSIR prefers underground fibre due to vandalism and theft risks, accepting overhead fibre only where underground options are unavailable or unaffordable. Bidders must disclose all shared infrastructure, including cable routes, equipment and exchange points, and provide GIS data in Shapefile or KML format so the CSIR can independently verify route diversity. The CSIR may award individual links, subject to budget availability and technical viability. Bidders must submit a mandatory Technical Compliance Matrix (minimum 75% overall), pricing schedules per link, B-BBEE documentation (80/20 price/preference system with black ownership as the specific goal), a valid CSD registration, and tax compliance evidence. The contract offers a meaningful opportunity for telecommunications infrastructure providers, fibre network operators and ICT service companies with Western Cape and Garden Route footprints to support South Africa's national research infrastructure.