Westpac Banking Corp. expects to release a request for proposal this month for all its telecommunications needs, in what will be the biggest such project in New Zealand for many years.

CIO Ross Hughson says it will be much bigger than the recent Inland Revenue deal of NZ$40 million (US$28.7 million) over five years.

Currently, Westpac spends around two-thirds of its budget with TelstraClear and one-third with Telecom. It also uses Blackberry PDAs from Vodafone.

The current contract with TelstraClear, which provides the data network, ends in December. Originally, TelstraClear Ltd. was a subcontractor to IBM under Westpac?s ten-year outsourcing arrangement but when this was amended a direct relationship was established with TelstraClear.

The RFP will go to TelstraClear, Telecom and Vodafone. Hughson says there will be a transition period after the contract finishes in December.