4. a2. Instructions to Tenderers.docx

A. INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS

MTender ID: ocds-b3wdp1-MD-1781161220358

PROJECT ROMD00495 "Cross-Border Interconnected Mobile Networks for Education and Innovation" (CONNECTINNO)

CONTRACT TITLE: Hybrid Private 5G Network Extension (local UPF)

By submitting a tender, tenderers fully and unreservedly accept the special and general conditions governing the contract as the sole basis of this tendering procedure, whatever their own conditions of sale may be, which they hereby waive. Tenderers are expected to examine carefully and comply with all instructions, forms, contract provisions and specifications contained in this tender dossier. Failure to submit a tender containing all the required information and documentation within the deadline specified will lead to the rejection of the tender. No account can be taken of any remarks in the tender relating to the tender dossier; remarks may result in the immediate rejection of the tender without further evaluation.

1. Supplies to be provided

1.1 The subject of the contract is:

the delivery, installation, configuration, integration, and provision of Hybrid Private 5G Network Extension (local UPF), including associated services, as follows:

at the address of the contracting authority supplies are to be delivered DAP, and the implementation period in days, in accordance with point 15 of the Contract notice.

1.2 The supplies must comply fully with the technical specifications set out in the tender dossier (Task Book / Technical Annex) and conform in all respects with the drawings, quantities, models, samples, measurements and other instructions.

1.3 Tenderers are not authorised to tender for a variant solution in addition to the present tender.

2. Timetable

* Provisional date

3. Participation

3.1. Natural or legal persons are not entitled to participate in this tender procedure or be awarded a contract if they are in any of the situations mentioned in EU restrictive measures (www.sanctionsmap.eu) or point 18 of Annex II of the Financing Agreement between the European Commission and the partner country. Should they do so, their tender will be considered unsuitable or irregular respectively. Tenderers must provide declarations on honour (form G3) that they are not in any of these exclusion situations. Such declarations must also be submitted by all the members of a joint venture/consortium, by any sub-contractor and by any capacity providing entities. Tenderers who make false declarations may also incur financial penalties and exclusion in accordance with the Financial Regulation in force. Their tender will be considered irregular.

The exclusion situations referred to above also apply to all members of a joint venture/consortium, all subcontractors and all suppliers to tenderers, as well as to all entities upon whose capacity the tenderer relies for the selection criteria. In cases of doubt over declarations, the contracting authority will request documentary evidence that subcontractors and/or capacity providing

capacity the tenderer relies for the selection criteria. In cases of doubt over declarations, the contracting authority will request documentary evidence that subcontractors and/or capacity providing entities are not in a situation that excludes them.

3.3. To be eligible to take part in this tender procedure, tenderers must prove to the satisfaction of the contracting authority that they comply with the necessary legal, technical and financial requirements and have the means to carry out the contract effectively.

3.4. Subcontracting is allowed. The tenderer and, where applicable, entities on whose capacities it has relied with regard to criteria relating to the economic and financial capacity shall be jointly liable for the performance of the contract.

4. Type of contract

Lump sum

5. Currency

Tenders must be presented in Euro.

6. Lots

6.1 This tender procedure is not divided into lots. There is one lot only.

7. Period of validity

7.1 Tenderers will be bound by their tenders for a period of 90 days from the deadline for the submission of tenders.

7.2 In exceptional cases and prior to the expiry of the original tender validity period, the contracting authority may ask tenderers in writing to extend this period by 40 days. Such requests and the responses to them must be made in writing. Tenderers that agree to do so will not be permitted to modify their tenders and they are bound to extend the validity of their tender guarantees for the revised period of validity of the tender. If they refuse, without forfeiture of their tender guarantees, their participation in the tender procedure will be terminated.

7.3 The successful tenderer will be bound by its tender for a further period of 60 days. The further period is added to the validity period of the tender irrespective of the date of notification.

8. Language of tenders

8.1 The tenders, all correspondence and documents related to the tender exchanged by the tenderer and the contracting authority must be written in the language of the procedure, which is English or Romanian.

8.2 If supporting documents are not written in English or Romanian, a translation into the language of the call for tender must be attached.

9. Submission of tenders

9.1 Tenders must be submitted exclusively via the electronic submission system MTender (MTender ID: ocds-b3wdp1-MD-1781161220358, https://mtender.gov.md/tenders/ocds-b3wdp1-MD-1781161220358?tab=contract-notice).

Tenders submitted in any other way (e.g. e-mail or by letter) will be disregarded.

A tender received after the time-limit for receipt of tenders will be rejected.

Tenderers must ensure that their submitted tenders contain all the information and documents required by the contracting authority at the time of submission as set out in the procurement documents.

The submission of a tender implies acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in the procurement documents. The submission binds the contractor to whom the contract is awarded during performance of the

bmission of a tender implies acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in the procurement documents. The submission binds the contractor to whom the contract is awarded during performance of the contract. The tenders will be kept confidential until the opening.

A tender received after the time-limit for receipt of tenders will be rejected.

10. Content of tenders

Part 1: Technical offer:

a detailed description of the supplies tendered in conformity with the technical specifications (Task Book), including any documentation required.

The technical offer should be presented as per template (Annex II+III*, Contractor’s technical offer) adding separate sheets for details if necessary.

• CV in Europass format for Contract Manager, signed.

The CV must demonstrate compliance with the minimum requirements for the Contract Manager as defined in section 6.2.1 of the Task Book, namely:

higher education completed with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent;

general experience of minimum 3 years;

specific experience consisting of participation in at least one project/contract in which activities similar to the proposed position have been carried out.

Part 2: Financial offer:

A financial offer calculated on a DAP basis for all supplies and services tendered, including all hardware, software, licenses, accessories, installation, configuration, integration, maintenance and support for 2 years.

This financial offer should be presented as per template (Annex IV*, Budget breakdown), adding separate sheets for details if necessary.

Part 3: Documentation:

To be supplied using the templates attached*:

The signed originals of the "Tender form for a supply contract", together with "Declaration on honour on exclusion criteria and selection criteria", both duly completed, which includes the tenderer’s declaration, point 7.

The details of the bank account into which payments should be made (financial identification form).

The legal entity file;

Certificate / Decision of registration of the Entity / Extract from the State Register of Legal Entities. A non-resident economic operator shall submit documents from the country of origin proving the form of registration / certification or professional affiliation.

Tender guarantee (1% of the total value of the offer, without VAT);

Certificate regarding the absence / existence of arrears to the national public budget. The provisions of the Fiscal Code regarding the amount of unpaid fiscal obligations considered as arrears to the national public budget shall be taken into account.

Financial report (last 3 years);

Declaration regarding the list of main deliveries made (services provided) in the last 3 years of activity.

Copy of the radio frequency license(s)

A copy of the valid license(s) issued by ANRCETI (or the relevant regulatory authority) authorising the use of radio frequencies in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band (FR1 spectrum), held either by the Bidder or by its authorised partner, in accordance with section 3.3.2.3 of the Task Book. The

rity) authorising the use of radio frequencies in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band (FR1 spectrum), held either by the Bidder or by its authorised partner, in accordance with section 3.3.2.3 of the Task Book. The Bidder must demonstrate compliance with all applicable regulations regarding the use of the radio spectrum based on the established allocation schemes.

The license(s) must remain valid for the entire duration of the contract (24 months from contract signature), in accordance with section 3.3.2.3 of the Task Book, which requires the Bidder to ensure the availability of the guaranteed licensed spectrum use throughout the contract period.

Spectrum Allocation Commitment Declaration

An official declaration signed by the Bidder’s legal representative, stating that the Bidder guarantees the allocation of a dedicated spectrum of at least 20 MHz in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band exclusively reserved for the UTM hybrid private 5G network, in accordance with section 3.3.2.3 of the Task Book.

This spectrum must be exclusively allocated (reserved band) to UTM and must be accessible through the allocation of a dedicated network slice compatible with 3GPP version 16 (minimum), in accordance with section 3.3.2.3 of the Task Book. The technical solution must also allow software updates to subsequent generations of the 5G communications standard, as required by section 3.3.2.2 of the Task Book.

The declaration must also confirm the possibility of expanding the guaranteed spectrum allocation from 20 MHz up to 100 MHz during the contract period, in accordance with section 3.3.2.1 of the Task Book, which requires that the radio band resources be guaranteed at a minimum of 20 MHz with the possibility of expansion up to 100 MHz.

Part 4: Documents to be submitted by the successful tenderer upon signing the contract:

Performance guarantee (5 % of the amount of the contract);

Declaration regarding the confirmation of the identity of the beneficial owners and their non-involvement in situations of conviction for participation in the activities of a criminal organisation or group, for corruption, fraud and/or money laundering

11. Additional information before the deadline for submission of tenders

Any request for additional information must be made in writing through the MTender. Registration on the platform is required to be able to create and submit a question.

Any prospective tenderers seeking to arrange individual meetings with the contracting authority during the tender period may be excluded from the tender procedure.

12. Clarification meeting / site visit

12.1 No clarification meeting / site visit planned. Visits by individual prospective tenderers during the tender period cannot be organised.

13 Alteration or withdrawal of tenders

13.1 After submitting a tender, but before the deadline for receipt of tenders, a tenderer may definitively withdraw its tender, or withdraw it and replace it with a new one.

13.2 No tender may be withdrawn in the interval between the deadline for submi

ne for receipt of tenders, a tenderer may definitively withdraw its tender, or withdraw it and replace it with a new one.

13.2 No tender may be withdrawn in the interval between the deadline for submission of tenders and the expiry of the tender validity period. Withdrawal of a tender during this interval may result in forfeiture of the tender guarantee.

14. Costs of preparing tenders

No costs incurred by the tenderer in preparing and submitting the tender are reimbursable. All such costs will be borne by the tenderer.

15. Ownership of tenders

The contracting authority retains ownership of all tenders received under this tender procedure. Consequently, tenderers have no right to have their tenders returned to them.

16. Joint venture or consortium

16.1 If a tenderer is a joint venture or consortium of two or more persons, the tender must be a single one with the object of securing a single contract, each person must sign the tender and will be jointly and severally liable for the tender and any contract. Those persons must designate one of their members to act as leader with authority to bind the joint venture or consortium. The composition of the joint venture or consortium must not be altered without the prior written consent of the contracting authority.

16.2 The tender may be signed by the representative of the joint venture or consortium only if it has been expressly so authorised in writing by the members of the joint venture or consortium, and the authorising contract, notarial act or deed must be submitted to the contracting authority. All signatures to the authorising instrument must be certified in accordance with the national laws and regulations of each party comprising the joint venture or consortium together with the powers of attorney establishing, in writing, that the signatories to the tender are empowered to enter into commitments on behalf of the members of the joint venture or consortium. Each member of such joint venture or consortium must provide the proof required under Article 3.5 as if it, itself, were the tenderer.

17. Opening of tenders

17.1 The purpose of the opening session is to check whether the tenders have been submitted in accordance with the submission requirements of the call for tenders.

17.2 The date and venue of the tender opening session is indicated in the Contract Notice.

The committee will draw up minutes of the meeting.

17.3 After the public opening of the tenders, no information relating to the examination, clarification, evaluation of tenders, or recommendations concerning the award of the contract can be disclosed until after the contract has been awarded.

17.4 Any attempt by tenderers to influence the evaluation committee in the process of examination, clarification, evaluation and comparison of tenders, to obtain information on how the procedure is progressing or to influence the contracting authority in its decision concerning the award of the contract will result in the immediate rejection of thei

to obtain information on how the procedure is progressing or to influence the contracting authority in its decision concerning the award of the contract will result in the immediate rejection of their tenders.

17.5 All tenders received after the deadline for submission specified in the contract notice or these instructions will be kept by the contracting authority. The associated guarantees will be returned to the tenderers. No liability can be accepted for late delivery of tenders. Late tenders will be rejected and will not be evaluated.

18. Evaluation of tenders

18.1 Examination of the administrative conformity of tenders

The aim at this stage is to check that tenders comply with the essential requirements of the tender dossier. A tender is deemed to comply if it satisfies all the conditions, procedures and specifications in the tender dossier without substantially departing from or attaching restrictions to them.

Substantial departures or restrictions are those which affect the scope, quality or execution of the contract, differ widely from the terms of the tender dossier, limit the rights of the contracting authority or the tenderer’s obligations under the contract or distort competition for tenderers whose tenders do comply. Decisions to the effect that a tender is not administratively compliant must be duly justified in the evaluation minutes.

If a tender does not comply with the tender dossier, it will be rejected immediately and may not subsequently be made to comply by correcting it or withdrawing the departure or restriction.

18.2 Technical evaluation

After analysing the tenders deemed to comply in administrative terms, the evaluation committee will rule on the technical admissibility of each tender, classifying it as technically compliant or non-compliant.

The minimum qualifications required (see selection criteria in the additional information about the contract notice are to be evaluated at the start of this stage.

Where contracts include after-sales service and/or training, the technical quality of such services will also be evaluated by using yes/no criteria as specified in the tender dossier.

18.3 In the interests of transparency and equal treatment and to facilitate the examination and evaluation of tenders, the evaluation committee may ask each tenderer individually for clarification of its tender including breakdowns of prices, within a reasonable time limit to be fixed by the evaluation committee. The request for clarification and the response must be in writing, but no change in the price or substance of the tender may be sought, offered or permitted except as required to confirm the correction of arithmetical errors discovered during the evaluation of tenders pursuant to Article 18.4. Any such request for clarification must not distort competition. Decisions to the effect that a tender is not technically compliant must be duly justified in the evaluation minutes.

18.4 Financial evaluation

a) Tenders found to be technically

distort competition. Decisions to the effect that a tender is not technically compliant must be duly justified in the evaluation minutes.

18.4 Financial evaluation

a) Tenders found to be technically compliant will be checked for any arithmetical errors in computation and summation. Errors will be corrected by the evaluation committee as follows:

- where there is a discrepancy between amounts in figures and in words, the amount in words will be the amount taken into account;

- except for lump-sum contracts, where there is a discrepancy between a unit price and the total amount derived from the multiplication of the unit price and the quantity, the unit price as quoted will be the price taken into account.

b) Amounts corrected in this way will be binding on the tenderer. If the tenderer does not accept them, its tender will be rejected.

c) Unless specified otherwise, the purpose of the financial evaluation process is to identify the tenderer offering the lowest price. Where specified in the technical specifications, the evaluation of tenders may take into account not only the acquisition costs but, to the extent relevant, costs borne over the life cycle of the supplies (such as for instance maintenance costs and operating costs), in line with the technical specifications. In such case, the contracting authority will examine in detail all the information supplied by the tenderers and will formulate its judgment on the basis of the lowest total cost, including additional costs.

18.5 Variant solutions

Variant solutions will not be taken into consideration.

18.6 Award criteria

The compliant tender that offers the best price-quality ratio will be chosen.

Documentary evidence for exclusion and selection criteria

At any time during the procurement procedure and before the award of the contract, the contracting authority may request documentary evidence on compliance with the exclusion criteria and selection criteria.

19. Notification of award

By submitting a tender, each tenderer accepts to receive notification of the outcome of the procedure by electronic means. Such notification shall be deemed to have been received on the date upon which the contracting authority sends it to the electronic address referred to in the offer.

The contracting authority will inform all tenderers simultaneously and individually of the award decision. The tender guarantees of the unsuccessful tenderers will be released once the contract is signed. The successful tenderer will be informed in writing that its tender has been accepted (notification of award).

20. Signature of the contract and performance guarantee

20.1 The contracting authority reserves the right to vary quantities specified in the tender by +/- 100 % at the time of contracting and during the validity of the contract. The total value of the supplies may not, as a result of the variation rise or fall by more than 25 % of the original financial offer in the tender. The unit prices quoted in the tender shall be us

ct. The total value of the supplies may not, as a result of the variation rise or fall by more than 25 % of the original financial offer in the tender. The unit prices quoted in the tender shall be used.

20.2 Within 30 days of receipt of the contract signed by the contracting authority, the selected tenderer must sign and date the contract and return it, with the performance guarantee (if applicable), to the contracting authority. On signing the contract, the successful tenderer will become the contractor and the contract will enter into force.

20.3 If it fails to sign and return the contract and any financial guarantee required within 30 days after receipt of notification, the contracting authority may consider the acceptance of the tender to be cancelled without prejudice to the contracting authority’s right to seize the guarantee, claim compensation or pursue any other remedy in respect of such failure, and the successful tenderer will have no claim whatsoever on the contracting authority.

20.4 The performance guarantee referred to in the general conditions is set at 5 % of the amount of the contract. The performance guarantee must be presented in the form specified in the annex to the tender dossier or it may be provided in the form of a bank guarantee or by bank transfer to the contracting authority’s account, using the following bank details:

It will be released within 60 days of the issue of the final acceptance certificate by the contracting authority, except for the proportion assigned to after-sales service. The contracting authority may decide not to require such a guarantee.

21. Tender guarantee

Tenderers must provide a tender guarantee amount 1% of the budget available for the contract when submitting their tender. The tender guarantee must be presented in the form specified in the annex to the tender dossier or it may be provided in the form of a bank guarantee or by bank transfer to the contracting authority’s account, using the following bank details:

It must remain valid for 90 days beyond the period of validity of the tender. This guarantee will be called upon if the tenderer does not fulfil all obligations stated in its tender.

This guarantee will be released to unsuccessful tenderers once the tender procedure has been completed. The tender guarantee of the successful tenderer will be released on signing of the contract, once the performance guarantee has been submitted.

This guarantee will be called upon if the tenderer does not fulfil all obligations stated in its tender.

22. Ethics clauses and code of conduct

22.1 Absence of conflict of interest

The tenderer must not be affected by any conflict of interest and must have no equivalent relation in that respect with other tenderers or parties involved in the project. Any attempt by a tenderer to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation committee or the contracting authority during the process of examining, clar

a tenderer to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation committee or the contracting authority during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating and comparing tenders will lead to the rejection of its tender and may result in administrative penalties according to the Financial Regulation in force.

22.2 Respect for human rights as well as environmental legislation and core labour standards

The tenderer and its personnel must comply with human rights and applicable data protection rules. In particular and in accordance with the applicable basic act, tenderers and applicants who have been awarded contracts must comply with the environmental legislation including multilateral environmental agreements, and with the core labour standards as applicable and as defined in the relevant International Labour Organisation conventions (such as the conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining; elimination of forced and compulsory labour; abolition of child labour).

Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment:

The contracting authority applies a policy of 'zero tolerance' in relation to all wrongful conduct which has an impact on the professional credibility of the tenderer.

Physical abuse or punishment, or threats of physical abuse, sexual abuse or exploitation, harassment and verbal abuse, as well as other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.

22.3 Anti-corruption and anti-bribery

The tenderer shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and codes relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption. The Managing Authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel project financing if corrupt practices of any kind are discovered at any stage of the award process or during the execution of a contract and if the contracting authority fails to take all appropriate measures to remedy the situation. For the purposes of this provision, ‘corrupt practices’ are the offer of a bribe, gift, gratuity or commission to any person as an inducement or reward for performing or refraining from any act relating to the award of a contract or execution of a contract already concluded with the contracting authority.

22.4 Unusual commercial expenses

Tenders will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are commissions not mentioned in the main contract or not stemming from a properly concluded contract referring to the main contract, commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service, commissions remitted to a tax haven, commissions paid to a payee who is not clearly identified or commissions paid to a company which has every appearance of being a front company.

Contractors found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the European Union are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed,

ppearance of being a front company.

Contractors found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on projects funded by the European Union are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to be permanently excluded from receiving EU funds.

22.5 Breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud

The contracting authority reserves the right to suspend or cancel the procedure, where the award procedure proves to have been subject to breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud. If breach of obligations, irregularities or fraud are discovered after the award of the contract, the contracting authority may refrain from concluding the contract.

23. Cancellation of the tender procedure

If a tender procedure is cancelled, tenderers will be notified by the contracting authority.

Cancellation may occur, for example, if:

the tender procedure has been unsuccessful, namely where no suitable, qualitatively or financially acceptable tender has been received or there has been no valid response at all;

the economic or technical parameters of the project have changed fundamentally;

exceptional circumstances or force majeure render normal implementation of the project impossible;

all technically acceptable tenders exceed the financial resources available;

there have been breach of obligations, irregularities or frauds in the procedure, in particular where these have prevented fair competition;

the award is not in compliance with sound financial management, i.e. does not respect the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness (e.g. the price proposed by the tenderer to whom the contract is to be awarded is objectively disproportionate with regard to the price of the market.

In no event will the contracting authority be liable for any damages whatsoever including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, in any way connected with the cancellation of a tender procedure even if the contracting authority has been advised of the possibility of damages. The publication of a contract notice does not commit the contracting authority to implement the programme or project announced.

24. Appeals

Tenderers believing that they have been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award process may file a complaint.

MD-2004, Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, 168, Stefan cel Mare Avenue

MD-2004, Republic of Moldova, Chisinau, 168, Stefan cel Mare Avenue