RFI of FRMCS for Virve2

Erillisverkot is planning on procurement of FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication) system. This RFI is not a Request for Quotation (RFQ), nor an invite to formal negotiations. Its purpose is to gather information about potential suppliers and potential ways to define, procure and implement future mission critical services. For example, the answers will help us to form our requirements in related procurement (s) later on. This RFI does not bind Erillisverkot to make any procurement based on this request. Participation to this RFI does not in any way bind any party in a potential future Invitation to Tender. Suppliers who refrain from participating in this RFI are equally allowed to participate to potential future RFP.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain information from suppliers regarding: - FRMCS product maturity - compliance with FRMCS and 3GPP standards - capability to support railway services on a commercial 4G/5G mobile network - interoperability and migration support - integration with telecom operator infrastructure Erillisverkot operates the Virve 2 mission critical broadband service used by Finnish public safety organisations. The network has been built using the Multi Operator Core Network (MOCN) model, where Virve 2 users share the RAN operator’s base stations (eNBs/gNBs) with the RAN operator’s commercial activities. In the future, the RAN service may be expanded to other national mobile network(s) via national roaming. The core functionality is operated and controlled by Erillisverkot and Erillisverkot acts as the service operator of Virve 2. The Virve 2 service will evolve over the years following the general trends in mobile communications development and by the addition of various new services and innovations improving the efficiency and security of Virve 2 users in their daily operations. Our plan is to provide FRMCS services to our rail community as one of the mission critical Virve 2 services, hosting the services on Erillisverkot’s Secure Cloud (Turvapilvi) virtualised datacentres and providing connections to the mobile clients over the Virve 2 radio bearers. Connectivity to some clients may be provided via other mobile networks, e.g. as a part of a multi-bearer routing service. More specific information and questions for potential suppliers on Annex 1.