Decision details

Cabinet Members approval sought for award of contract.

1.            That this report be exempt from disclosure by virtue of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraphs 3 and 5 in that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and contains legal advice.

2.            That the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Corporate Services and the Cabinet Member for City Highways approved the award of a Service Concession contract granting access to Westminster City Council street furniture for the purposes of a small cell network to the preferred bidder for the fixed fees and net revenue share contained in their form of tender as described in section 5.1 of the report for the period on or around 1st December 2017 to 31st November 2027 with the option to extend up to 15 years.

3.            That the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Corporate Services and the Cabinet Member for City Highways delegated authority to the Executive Director for City Management and Communities and the City Treasurer in conjunction with the Head of Legal Services to agree any minor amendments to the contract deemed necessary and to conclude the contract accordingly.

Reasons for Decision 

1.            The Council has a number of contracts in relation to wireless activity in Westminster, notably the metro wireless contract and a wireless contract which were both for periods of up to May 2018 as an initial contract period.

2.            With the above contracts coming to an end as well as a growing interest in Westminster assets by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Telecom Infrastructure Companies, it was identified that a solution to enable future on-street wireless services was needed. The Council is not best placed to manage this activity as it is not a core competence of the Council. Market activity as well as income generation is likely to be maximised through the provision of a 3rd party concessionaire to manage and market our on street assets (street furniture).

3.            Whilst considerable investment has been made by the Mobile Operators within the City of Westminster, with the increasing demand on the current networks (amount of data that we as consumers are accessing and downloading) there are areas within the City of Westminster where there are growing capacity and coverage problems for the Mobile Operators which need to be addressed and has become a key focus for the MNO’s.