Operation Gigabit network in Biberach on the Riß

The City of Biberach an der Riß (hereinafter: "Client" [AG]) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in Baden-Württemberg. The university town of Biberach is located in northern Upper Swabia and is an intermediate center of the Danube-Iller region in the Tübingen administrative district. It is the largest town in the district of the same name. An agreed administrative community exists with the neighboring municipalities of Attenweiler, Eberhardzell, Hochdorf, Maselheim, Mittelbiberach, Ummendorf, and Warthausen. Numerous medium-sized and international companies are based in Biberach, including Boehringer, Liebherr, and EnBW. The Client considers providing citizens as well as businesses, schools, and administrative facilities within the coverage area with high-performance and future-proof broadband services to be a vital mission in terms of public services of general interest and securing the business location, representing a high-priority goal for the Client. Since 2023, the Client has been successively expanding the fiber-optic infrastructure within the urban area. The expansion has taken place in both unsubsidized and subsidized environments (federal and state funding) as well as under the operator model. In 2022, an initial network operation contract was concluded with NetCom BW GmbH, applying to areas expanded with federal/state funding under the "white spots" program. The Client now plans, utilizing funding from the federal government and the State of Baden-Württemberg, to supplement the fiber-optic networks currently emerging under the "white spots" program within the framework of the "grey spots" program. Subsequently, the networks from the grey spots program are to be leased to and operated by a telecommunications company. The networks currently being established and already awarded for operation ("white spots") are not part of this tender. The subject of this tender is therefore the leasing of passive infrastructure from the "grey spots funding" for network operation. This includes in particular the installation of active network components, their servicing and maintenance, necessary expansions, documentation, and the provision of information. The provision of the passive infrastructure by the Client to the Contractor shall take place within the framework of a lease relationship based on a network operation and lease agreement. According to the current status of the funding procedure (amendment application dated 05/08/2026), the expansion cluster comprises 516 addresses; the address list attached to the tender documents currently shows 511 addresses, whereby these figures are merely to be regarded as potential. During the expansion work, deviations both upward and downward may occur. Furthermore, changes in funding regulations may retroactively affect the address scope. The project is funded as follows: - Directive "Funding to support gigabit expansion of telecommunications networks in the Federal Republic of Germany" (Gigabit Directive) as amended on 26/04/2021 - Electronic reference no. of the federal grant notification: 832.6/10-22 01BW21179 - Administrative regulation of the Ministry of the Interior on the co-financing of the federal directive "Funding to support gigabit expansion of telecommunications networks in the Federal Republic of Germany" (VwV Gigabit Co-financing) dated September 10, 2021 - Electronic reference no. of the state grant notification: 4-8433.5/212 The prospective contractor must comply with all requirements of the grant notifications underlying the project, including ancillary provisions, notices, conditions, fact sheets, and annexes, as well as the relevant funding programs. The contracting authority points out that an amendment application dated 05/08/2026 is pending, by means of which the investment volume and the address scope will be adjusted. The quantities and coverage areas communicated in the procurement documents may still change as a result of this as well as through the final…