TenderCodes .eu

CPV 72720000

Wide area network services

Wide area network services are the work of connecting a contracting authority's sites across distance: linking head offices, regional branches, data centres and remote facilities into one network that behaves as a single system. Under CPV code 72720000, the authority is buying the long-haul connectivity and the management around it, not the cabling inside one building.

This sits inside Computer network services (72700000), alongside its one sibling, Local area network services (72710000). The split is geographic. A LAN joins machines within a site; a WAN joins sites to each other, often nationwide, increasingly as a managed service. A common shape under this code is a multi-year contract for an outsourced WAN with the supplier owning circuits, routing and availability.

The scale is substantial. 594 awards carry this code (TED 2009-2026), and across the 356 with disclosed values the mean runs to about €3.9M, pulled up by nationwide, infrastructure-heavy deals. Poland, Germany and the Netherlands place the most. The work spans classic point-to-point links, MPLS, and the SD-WAN designs that now show up in newer tenders.

Public search interest in the bare phrase stays low, which fits a term that contracting authorities reach through a parent category or an existing framework rather than by typing it into a search bar.

When to use this code

For buyers contracting authority

Choose 72720000 when the contract connects separate sites rather than wiring a single one. A nationwide link between ministries, a managed network joining a council's offices, or connectivity into a data centre all belong here. The boundary with Local area network services (72710000) is geographic, not technical: in-building cabling and switching is LAN, site-to-site reach is WAN.

Two neighbouring codes cause the real confusion. If what the authority buys is the raw transmission capacity, the leased lines or data circuits themselves, Telephone and data transmission services (64210000) often fits better, because that scope is carrier connectivity rather than a managed IT network. If the deal is mostly about running and supporting an existing network, look at Data network management and support services (72315000).

Where a single contract bundles circuits, equipment and management together, set the primary CPV code by the dominant deliverable. When the managed network is the point and the transmission lines are a means to it, 72720000 holds even with circuits in the package.

For suppliers bidding

Winners here are telecoms carriers, managed-network providers and systems integrators that can own connectivity end to end, not firms that only supply boxes. Because these contracts run for years and touch every site an authority operates, switching cost is high and the incumbent starts ahead. The challenger's real obstacle is a credible, low-disruption migration plan, not headline price.

What carries weight at bid stage: documented availability and latency commitments, a resilient design with diverse routing, security accreditations, and evidence of comparable nationwide rollouts. The contract award notice (CAN) history shows infrastructure-heavy deals, so capacity to deliver physical reach matters as much as the service wrapper.

Expect to compete from two directions. Carriers arrive from Telephone and data transmission services (64210000) selling raw connectivity, while integrators arrive from the management codes selling the operational layer. Worth knowing: with a disclosed mean near €3.9M (TED 2009-2026), this is a code where a strong reference estate and proven resilience beat a sharp price, and where consortium bids that pair a carrier with an integrator often outflank a lone supplier.

Industries and typical projects

Telecommunications Networking equipment Public sector IT System integration Cloud infrastructure Infrastructure monitoring

Commonly confused with

72710000
Local area network services cover connectivity inside a single site; WAN services join separate sites across distance.
64210000
That code buys the raw telephone and data transmission capacity, the circuits themselves, rather than a managed IT network built on top.
72315000
Data network management and support is about running an existing network; 72720000 is about providing the wide-area connectivity itself.

Example award titles

  • Supply; Delivery and Maintenance of a Managed Wide Area Network
  • Provision of Wide Area Network Services
  • Provision of a Wide Area Network
  • Wide Area Network and Management Services.
  • LAN WAN Maintenance and Support for Cork County Council
  • Provision of Services for Supply and Installation of an SD-Wan Solution for the Department of Justice

Live tenders (3)

Ireland – Computer support services – AsIAm - Provision of ICT Managed Service IE · closes 2026-06-24
Ireland – Computer support services – AsIAm - Provision of ICT Managed Service IE · closes 2026-06-24
Cyprus – Network equipment – 288/2025 Provision Deployment and Support of IP Core Network Solution for EAC Services CY · closes 2026-07-22
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Hierarchy

Parent
72700000
Siblings
72710000
Documented June 2026 · AI-augmented body, human-reviewed before publication. Editorial policy.