Credit: Dreamstime
The NSW Government has expanded its Telecommunications Purchasing Arrangements (TPA) contract by adding a fifth service tower for network applications.
The TPA is a new panel contract for supply of telecommunications services to NSW Government buyers launched on 1 July 2018 and running until 30 June 2023. It includes five service towers being fixed data, fixed voice, internet, mobile and now network applications.
Optus, Vertel and Vocus have become the first providers to join the Government's network applications service tower.
All three providers form part of eight suppliers originally named for the TPA, including DDA, MyNetFone, Optus, Telstra, TPG, Transgrid, Vertel and Vocus.
The new tower will allow agencies to purchase overlay technologies that provide connectivity to one or more locations, in theory improving performance and service over traditional fixed data services.
“The NSW Government is committed to putting the customer at the centre of everything we do. Telecommunications is a key enabler of better government services,” said Mark Lenzner, executive director ICT procurement, NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation.
The Government added that it intended to add more suppliers over the coming weeks.
Although the provision is bundled as a service by a single provider, the carriage can be provided by a third-party or the customer when the SD-WAN supplier manages the carriage for the customer.
According to Vertel, the service will allow administrators to configure links, set policies and apply them via a single, customisable customer portal.
The provider, which uses Nokia’s Nuage Networks to power its SD-WAN, added that the technology can incorporate NBN, wireless, DSL, 4G, satellite and public internet, reducing reliance on customised networking and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) links.
Optus first launched its SD-WAN offering, Optus Fusion, in September 2017, using Riverbed’s Steel Connect platform as its support.
Vocus meanwhile signalled its intent to launch its SD-WAN as an operational priority in its financial results last year. The telco now offers it as a fully managed service offering throughput from 100 Mbps up to 2 Gbps.
