Ofcom expects to commission around £12m of work over four years, a fall from its previous annual research budget of approximately £4m.

Its existing preferred supplier list is being replaced because of changes in the market and changes to public sector procurement rules.

Contracts will be for two years, with an option to extend twice for an additional year. Agencies on the roster may also have opportunities to bid for work with other regulatory bodies, Ofcom said.

The organisation said: “We hope that our new framework will improve efficiency – both for Ofcom and for our agencies.”

The framework is divided into three lots: quantitative, qualitative and omnibus research. The qual and quant lots are broken up by sector into media, telecoms, internet and new media and post, while the omnibus lot is broken up by methodology into online, face-to-face and telephone.

Applicants will have to fill in a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), with those that are successful then invited to tender, by replying to a brief and picthing ideas to representatives of Ofcom’s research teams.

More information about the tender can be found on Ofcom’s website. Pre-qualification questionnaires must be submitted no later than 14 July 2011.