City of Sydney set to extend JCDecaux street furniture contract for another year
The City of Sydney will look to extend outdoor operator JCDecaux’s contract for another year, following its decision to return to expressions of interest for its outdoor advertising tender, Mumbrella understands.
On Monday last week, The City of Sydney announced after seven months it would return the tender to its expression of interest stage, suggesting it would enable interested parties to refine their offers.
JC Decaux street furniture and advertising in the Sydney CBD will be removed, regardless of who wins the contract
The City denied the decision was due to proposed takeover bids involving major street furniture players JC Decaux and Ooh Media of APN Outdoor and Adshel respectively.
“We’ve refined our contractual requirements following the first expressions of interest process which began in late 2017,” City of Sydney mayor Clover Moore said at the time.
“This is because interested providers told us the market needed more time to respond to the complex nature of the contract and work on solutions to give residents, workers and visitors the best possible outcome.”
The EOI notice was originally sent out in December last year since JCDecaux’s 20 year contract, which the company won ahead of the 2000 Olympic Games, was due to expire.
Mumbrella understands due to the delayed commencement of the tender, The City of Sydney will look to extend the French-owned operator’s contract for another year.
The new tender requires a complete revamp of the City of Sydney street furniture, which will be a labour intensive and time-consuming process. More than 2,500 pieces of street furniture, including bus shelters, kiosks, public toilets, seats, litter bins and communication panels as well as wifi, are part of the tender.
Discussions around the contract extension will most likely occur at the Council’s meeting in August.
Mumbrella also understands the City of Sydney requires telecommunications companies to pitch with outdoor operators for the wifi beacon component of the tender. Mumbrella understands JC Decaux has partnered with Telstra, while Optus is understood to be working with Adshel.
In the last 12 months, a number of significant outdoor contracts have shifted to new operators.
JC Decaux won Yarra Trams under a consolidated contract which included both shelters and the trams themselves. Previously, the contract had been split between Adshel and APN Outdoor.
Adshel won the Metro Trains Melbourne outdoor contract, which spans 15 rail lines and 218 stations and lasts for seven years, while APN Outdoor was re-appointed as preferred partner for the train’s track and roadside assets.
APN Outdoor locked in a further five-year contract with Sydney Buses, retained its Adelaide metro contract and renewed its Tullamarine Freeway contract. Canberra Airport however, ditched APN Outdoor in favour of QMS.
JC Decaux declined to comment.
