The Government has signed contracts for the provision of Voice, Mobile and Data Carriage Services, jointly referred to as Telecommunications Carriage Services (TCS). These contracts, combined with the Victorian Office Telephony System (VOTS) contracts, form the basis of the Telecommunications Purchasing and Management Strategy (TPAMS).

For further information on the VOTS contracts please go to Victorian Office Telephony Services

TCS was established on behalf of Victorian Government departments, agencies and statutory authorities for the delivery of telecommunications goods and services. The TCS arrangements were established to deliver best value, and the latest technology, for fixed voice, mobile and data carriage services. The TCS contracts offer high levels of service availability, interoperability, telecommunications infrastructure and enhanced service coverage across regional and rural Victoria.

Government Approved Telecommunications Suppliers
Under TCS, five Government Approved Telecommunications Suppliers (GATS) were pre-qualified. The five GATS and the services they have been pre-qualified to supply are:

Supplier	Data	Voice	Mobile
AAPT	Pre-qualified	Pre-qualified	Pre-qualified
Macquarie	Pre-qualified	Pre-qualified
Optus	Pre-qualified	Tranche 1 Tranche 2 (current supplier)	Tranche 2 (current supplier)
Soul Pattinson Telecommunications	Pre-qualified
Telstra	Tranche 1 Tranche 2 (current supplier)	Pre-qualified	Tranche 1 (current supplier)

Contracted Business
Following pre-qualification, Government Business was divided into 2 parcels or ‘tranches’ and was offered to the GATS via a Request for Quotation process. The outcome of the RFQ process was that Telstra and Optus were awarded Government business as shown in the table above.

Contract summary

Supplier	TCS Data - Telstra TCS Fixed Voice - Optus TCS Mobile - Optus and Telstra
Number of Contracts	5
Reference	TCS RFT 10375/ 40018
Arrangment	Agreements are not mandatory
TPAMS Head Agreement Start date	TCS Data - 6 July 2004 TCS Fixed Voice - 6 July 2004 TCS Mobile - 6 July 2004
Customer Contract Term (Pricing) End date	Evergreen contract. Currently under review.
Lead Entity	Department of Treasury and Finance
Category Managers	TCS Data Services: Neil O'Connor Strategic Sourcing Department of Treasury & Finance Ph: (+613) 9651 1551 Email: neil.o'connor@dtf.vic.gov.au TCS Voice and Mobile Services: Courtney Dodd Strategic Sourcing Department of Treasury & Finance Ph: (+613) 9651 1552 Email: courtney.dodd@dtf.vic.gov.au