TopSky ATC One Upgrade and Service Agreement

This voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency notice is published by Fintraffic Air Navigation Services Ltd. on behalf of itself and the contracting entities included in the notice. Contracting entities have signed a joint procurement agreement concerning their intention to negotiate and enter into an agreement with Thales LAS France S.A.S regarding an upgrade of the current TopSky system, which is currently in operational use by each contracting entity. The current air traffic control management system will be outdated as the existing system does not meet the requirements of the European Regulation that will apply in the following years. The parties have concluded that the only viable solution is to acquire a system upgrade for the existing system from the manufacturer, including necessary software development, integration, maintenance and support services for the operational period after the system upgrade has been succesfully deployed. Contracting entities have designated Fintraffic Air Navigation Services Ltd. as responsible for publishing the notice and chosen Finnish public procurement law as applicable to the procurement process.

Contracting authorities are currently using the operational version of the TopSky system for air traffic control management, which has been developed by Thales. The existing system does not meet the requirements of the European Regulation that will apply in the following years, and Thales has started to develop a software upgrade for these purposes. Thales is the exclusive owner of all Intellectual Property Rights for the TopSky system, and as such is the only possible supplier for providing the upgrade and required support and additional services for the TopSky system, which are required by regulation. Each contracting entity has individually evaluated the grounds for direct procurement for the system upgrade, and the conclusion is that there are no reasonable alternative or substitute solutions for upgrading the current software system. Upgrading the ATM system with the existing supplier offers a measurably lower-risk, cost-effective, and strategically coherent pathway, which is legally justified and operationally necessary for securing the highest safety standards required for the provision of air traffic management services. The Parties have opted for joint procurement as Skybridge-Alliance to achieve both cost savings and other benefits during the operational period, which can only be achieved through a common ATM system.