Deutsche Post faces order to open mail market to competition immediately

Deutsche Post World Net AG will receive a letter from Germany’s cartel office Monday stating it may no longer prohibit competitors from collecting, sorting and franking commercial letters that weigh less than 100 grammes, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported in an unsourced pre-release of tomorrow’s edition. Deutsche Post is scheduled to lose its monopoly at the end of 2007 as part of an EU-wide move to liberalise the market for mail delivery. Deutsche Post’s chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel said recently that his firm has no intention of relinquishing its monopoly prior to 2008. Therefore it is considered certain that Deutsche Post will seek an injunction against the cartel office’s decision, the newspaper wrote. Should the court rule against the mail carrier, it will have to comply with the cartel office’s decision or face heavy fines, Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote.

alfred.kueppers@afxnews.com