Telecommunication company Safaricom was recently awarded a tender to provide advanced communication and surveillance equipment to the National Police Service in a project called the Public Safety Security Project. A parliamentary committee has since halted the tender demanding disclosure on the tender process and questioning the legality of the tender which was awarded through single sourcing.
To clarify its role and the amounts involved, Safaricom has released more information relating to the tender.
1. Cost
The total cost of the tender awarded is Ksh. 14.9 Billion. This will cover Nairobi and Mombasa and will include core network infrastructure a. This figure includes maintenance and support for five years.
Safaricom estimates that it will cost Ksh. 6.6 Billion to roll out the project to the whole country. It’s important to note that this is not part of the awarded tender and that it is an estimate.
2. Contract specifications
The project will run on an independent eLTE (4G) network, separate from the Safaricom network. It will utilize the following equipment:
- Operations Centres (2 in Nairobi, 1 in Mombasa);
- 1,800 High Definition cameras (1500 in Nairobi, 300 in Mombasa);
- 5 video conference facilities (4 in Nairobi, 1 in Mombasa);
- Internet services to 195 police stations;
- 7,000 devices (6000 hand held, 1000 fixed desktop devices);
- 130 fixed desktop phones;
- 80 Base stations (60 in Nairobi, 20 in Mombasa);
- 600 vehicle-mounted systems.
3. Who will run the project
Safaricom will design, construct and provide support the project. It will then be handed over to the National Police Service who will operate it.
4. Payment terms
The first Ksh.7.5 billion will be paid in kind through allocation of 4G spectrum to Safaricom of that value. The rest will be paid in annual installments over five years starting in the year 2016.