Contracting

Giga helps governments design smarter, faster, and more transparent ways to procure internet connectivity for schools.

Through UNICEF’s global procurement expertise and ITU’s leadership in regulation, standards, and infrastructure policy, Giga supports countries to plan, source, and manage connectivity in a way that delivers value for money and long-term sustainability.

By combining mapping data, infrastructure analysis, and financial modeling, Giga helps governments understand costs, identify suppliers, and create a fairer marketplace for connectivity investment. This reduces risk in the implementation of school connectivity projects and opens new opportunities for development and financial institutions to fund connectivity at scale.

Giga is establishing a Procurement Hub in Geneva, working through UNICEF’s Supply Division in Copenhagen to support transparent and efficient public procurement of school connectivity services.

By helping governments adopt open, data-driven tendering processes, the facility strengthens market competition and accountability while ensuring that public funds achieve maximum impact. Transparency builds trust among government stakeholders (Ministries of Education, Telecommunications and regulators), service providers, and financiers creating a level playing field that attracts investment and drives innovation.

Through long-term agreements (LTAs) with service providers, the facility secures competitive pricing, reduces transaction costs, and simplifies contracting within national and regional regulatory frameworks.

Governments working with Giga benefit from lower costs, faster rollouts, and quality assurance, all within systems that promote fair and transparent procurement.

Using Giga Maps and real-time data tools, governments can track network performance and verify that schools receive the service levels they pay for. Giga also provides expert guidance on procurement processes, drawing on UNICEF’s market-shaping experience the same capability that delivers billions of dollars in vaccines, medicine, and learning materials each year.

That global buying power is now being used to close the digital divide.

Countries receive expert guidance on procurement processes, leveraging UNICEF’s extensive experience in market shaping for essential commodities like vaccines and medicines. 

As one of the world’s largest buyers of goods and services for children — from vaccines to ready-to-use therapeutic food — UNICEF procured $5.2 billion in supplies and services across 162 countries in 2023 alone. That same procurement power is now being used to close the digital divide.

As Giga, UNICEF collaborates with ITU for regulatory advice and alignment with the current infrastructure status, connectivity options, costing, and standards at the country level.

Giga acts as a trusted broker between governments, development finance institutions (DFIs) and international financial institutions (IFIs), ensuring that procurement aligns with donor requirements and accelerates funding flows.

By working with Giga, countries can access new financing channels for school connectivity. DFIs gain a pipeline of investment-ready projects backed by transparent data and sound procurement systems.

Giga is helping governments rethink how connectivity is financed, sourced, and scaled.

The Procurement Hub in Geneva will serve as a global centre for school connectivity projects, reducing procurement timelines by up to 50 percent and cutting contract costs by 30 to 60 percent through pooled demand and economies of scale.

Faster, smarter, and more transparent procurement means more schools online, sooner.