Central internet for schools to be delayed again, tender scrapped

The procurement authority is to halt the Edunet project, since one of the failed bidders has appealed. The reasons for the verdict have not been stated.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: TASR)

The Public Procurement Office (ÚVO), led by Miroslav Hlivák since autumn, is likely to halt the much-awaited Edunet project after all. The Office ordered the cancellation of the already-finished tender at the end of February.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

The Swan company, which is a part of the DanubiaTel Group, was supposed to win an order worth €64.4 million. However, one of the unsuccessful candidates appealed, the Sme daily wrote on March 21. Its name has not been revealed yet.

Other failed bidders

The second lowest bid was submitted by Slovanet and the third by Slovak Telekom, which had been providing the internet to schools, as part of the Infovek project, for several years. Slovak Telekom receives around €400,000 a month for this project.

SkryťTurn off ads

O2 submitted the lowest bid, amounting to around €56 million. The ministry excluded O2 from the tender, but the company did not appeal. The reasons for the ÚVO’s latest decision remain unknown.

We have been pointing out, together with Aliancia Fair-play, that this project has not been set up properly,” head of the Slovensko.Digital civic association, Ján Hargaš, told the daily. “It needs to be stopped and re-made.”

Read also: Education Ministry ready to sign for controversial project Read more 

The tender was announced by the Education Ministry by the end of 2015, when Juraj Draxler (Smer) was the minister. Back in summer, then-education minister Peter Plavčan (SNS) announced that the ÚVO had nothing against the tender results, and he could sign the contract with the winner – with a single problem found that had no impact on the result – on the condition that the bidders have to agree with the maximum prices of services stipulated by the ministry. However, they did not ultimately apply this condition when evaluating the bids.

SkryťTurn off ads

Reasons for verdict unknown

It is not known why the procurement office decided to halt the tender, and the ministry, led by incumbent Education Minister Martina Lubyová (also SNS nominee), has not commented, either.

ÚVO has not finished the procedure with an effective ruling yet, its spokesperson Janka Zvončeková told Sme. Official stances are expected by mid-April.

Reactions

“We are sorry that teachers and children around Slovakia are the hostages of behavior by this company – left to work with obsolete and insufficient solutions,” said the spokesperson of Swan, Matúš Benčík.

Read also: IT community to evaluate state projects Read more 

Slovensko.Digital claims that many providers would be able to supply faster and cheaper internet connection to schools, adding that the tender was set up in a way that only four out of more than 300 suppliers on the market participated in it, Hargaš added.

Vladimír Crmoman of the Slovak Chamber of Teachers welcomed the ÚVO decision, commenting for Sme that the whole project was nonsense from the very start, and that to prevent corruption, it would be best if schools received the money directly and could select from among local providers.

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad