WAN Connectivity for the Government of Malta

The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) announcing the intention of publishing a Call for Tenders (CfT), later this year, for the procurement of fibre connectivity services connecting various government Ministries, Departments and Entities across Malta and Gozo to MITA’s two Data Centres.

The PIN may be view from this link. 

Background

The current fibre connectivity contract end date is 15^th March 2027.  MITA is issuing this PIN and eventual CfT at such an advanced timeframe to allow sufficient time for the selected Tenderer to plan and carry out works from their end to be able to provide the connectivity (the service) by beginning 2027.

Currently, the number of government sites that make use of fibre connectivity amount to approx. 381 sites with 132 of these sites having dual fibre connectivity, whereby two fibre links are installed through totally separate physical routes.  This is an essential requirement to ensure a high level of service uptime to these critical sites.   

Refer to Appendix A for a list of the current government sites, corresponding address and type of fibre connectivity installed.  New sites can be added, or existing ones removed at any time, depending on client exigencies, also throughout the term of the procurement.  

Click here to download Appendix A.

Envisaged setup

As part of this procurement, Ministry Chief Information Officers (CIOs), through MITA, will be able to procure either single fibre or dual fibre connectivity with speeds ranging between 100Mbps to 1Gbps.  MITA will limit procurement to 3 or 4 specific options e.g. 100Mbps/250Mbps/500Mbps and 750Mbps.

The connectivity to be provided between each site provisioned and MITA’s Data Centres must be over Layer 2 through the allocation of a number of VLANs per site.

Through this procurement, MITA also intends to procure internet connectivity with DDoS protection, to be installed either centrally within MITA’s Data Centres, or if required within a client site. 

Network traffic flowing through the site links mentioned above will be aggregated at MITA’s Data Centres in Santa Venera and Mater Dei Hospital (MDH) on 10Gbps aggregation links such that it is then forwarded to the various services that would need to be consumed by government users e.g. internet, email, cloud services.  Refer to diagram below for a high-level overview representing this traffic flow.

The links highlighted in green in the diagram available in the Gallery below will be procured as part of the new ‘WAN Connectivity for Government’ CfT.

Additional Information 

Interested Economic Operators are reminded that MITA publishes its call for tenders on Malta’s electronic Public Procurement System (ePPS - https://www.etenders.gov.mt). Interested operators should therefore ensure that they have an active account on ePPS. This will allow for faster familiarization of the ePPS and will also allow the setting up of email notifications on tenders of interest. More information on how to register and use ePPS is available in the Help and FAQ files available on the same platform.

This information shall not be construed as a call for tenders. MITA does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information. MITA reserves the right, in its discretion, to add, modify, substitute or remove any of this information, including not issuing a call for tenders.

You can register to receive any further updates by registering from the Form below.