The City of Sydney has begun evaluating expressions of interest for its outdoor media tender.

The highly sought-after account will run for 10 years, with the winning outdoor company to be announced early next year.

In a statement to B&T, a City of Sydney spokesperson said: “Expressions of interest for the outdoor media tender are currently under evaluation.

Adding: “The tender is expected to be considered by Council in early 2019.”

JCDecaux is the incumbent for the account, with speculation the outdoor media giant is up against Adshel and APN Outdoor for the contract.

Adshel and APN Outdoor have declined to comment on the tender.

B&T has contacted JCDecaux for comment.

In July, the City of Sydney requested re-submissions for the contract, having refined its requirements as part of the second expressions of interest process.

As part of the account, the City of Sydney is seeking an experienced service provider to deliver new street furniture, outdoor advertising assets and free public WiFi to Sydney city’s millions of daily visitors.

The City of Sydney first called for EOI in December last year, with the closing date originally scheduled in February.

It was speculated at the time that incumbent JCDecaux was making a joint play for the contract with Telstra, which is estimated to be worth $500 million.

The City of Sydney’s existing street furniture contract has been in place since 1998 and is due to expire in 2019.

More than 2,500 pieces of street furniture, including bus shelters, kiosks, public toilets, seats, litter bins, communications panels and more, will be included in the new contract.

The tender review follows huge shake-ups in the outdoor industry this year.

In late August, the ACCC cleared both the JCDecaux acquisition of APN Outdoor as well as oOh!media’s takeover of Adshel.

According to JCDecaux, APN Outdoor will remain its own brand for the foreseeable future, however, oOh!media has said it will scrap Adshel and completely absorb the brand by October of this year.