A carrier RFP should state the required outcome, site and handover details, capacity, destinations, resilience, programme, construction responsibilities, support levels and commercial response format. Require bidders to identify assumptions and exceptions, separate confirmed prices from provisional construction costs and provide enough route and delivery evidence for a like-for-like evaluation.
Define the required outcome
Begin with the project purpose rather than a carrier product name. Explain the site, operational use, destinations, critical dates and decision criteria. Carriers can then propose a compliant product or a clearly stated alternative.
Identify whether the exercise is an early RFI, a budget request or a binding RFP. Mixing those stages leads to false precision and later price changes.
Technical response schedule
- Site address, coordinates and boundary plan
- Required handover location and interface
- Service type or permitted alternatives
- Initial and future capacity
- Latency or performance requirements where material
- Internet routing, IP addressing and DDoS requirements
- Private connectivity destinations
- Resilience and route-diversity boundary
- Monitoring, reporting and support requirements
- Testing and acceptance criteria
Route, construction and site responsibilities
Require each bidder to state exactly where its responsibility starts and ends.
| Area | Required response |
|---|---|
| Network status | On-net, near-net, off-net or dependent on a third party |
| Route | Indicative or surveyed route, entry point and known shared risks |
| Construction | Included work, exclusions, provisional sums and survey dependencies |
| Consents | Wayleaves, landlord approvals, highways and private-land requirements |
| Site works | Duct, chambers, containment, power, rack space and cross-connects |
| Reinstatement | Standards, traffic management and responsibility for defects |
Programme and governance
- Order acceptance milestone
- Survey and design dates
- Wayleave and consent assumptions
- Construction start and completion
- Equipment installation
- Testing and ready-for-service date
- Client dependencies and required notice periods
- Named delivery manager and escalation path
- Change-control process
- Delay reporting and contractual remedies
Commercial response
Use a standard schedule that separates:
- One-off connection and installation charges
- Confirmed and provisional construction costs
- Monthly or annual service charges
- Port, cross-connect, colocation and support charges
- Contract length, renewal and indexation
- Upgrade, downgrade and relocation terms
- Early termination and cancellation exposure
- Service credits and liability position
- Quote validity and conditions
Standardise the bidder response
Ask bidders to complete the same tables and submit a short compliance statement. A useful response structure is:
- Executive summaryProposed solution, key benefits and material risks.
- Compliance matrixComply, partially comply or exception against each requirement.
- Technical designProduct, capacity, route, handover and support.
- Delivery planMilestones, dependencies and named responsibilities.
- Commercial scheduleOne-off, recurring and conditional costs.
- Assumptions and exclusionsA complete list, not wording hidden in standard terms.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
Should an RFP specify a product or an outcome?
Specify the required outcome and mandatory technical parameters. Allow compliant alternatives where they could improve value or delivery, but require them to be clearly identified.
How many carriers should be invited?
Enough to create credible competition and route choice without making the exercise unmanageable. The number depends on site coverage, product and programme.
Can a carrier quote be binding before survey?
Sometimes only in part. Require confirmed prices, provisional sums and survey-dependent items to be separated so the remaining risk is visible.
Can CROSS prepare and run the RFP?
Yes. CROSS can develop the requirement, engage carriers, manage clarifications, normalise responses and support negotiation and award.
Apply this to a live site
You do not need to know the product before speaking to us.
Send us the site, project or carrier quotation and we will identify the most useful next step.