Postal Services: Postcomm calls for views
Postcomm is asking the industry how it should take its strategy forward as it maps out the future of the deregulated mail-delivery marketplace.
The postal services regulator wants to collect views from all interested parties, including domestic customers, suppliers, businesses and postal operators.
“This is the first broad look we’ve taken since the market opened up,” said a spokesman for Postcomm. “We are covering so much that we want to be canvassing as wide as possible.”
Phased deregulation of the postal market began in February 2004 and the market was opened up to full competition in August.
Postcomm’s current regulatory framework, which deals with Royal Mail pricing and service quality, runs until 2010.
Nick Wells, CEO of TNT Post UK, which has emerged as one of the Royal Mail’s biggest competitors in the deregulated market, welcomed the move.
“It’s important for Postcomm to have the teeth to be able to regulate properly,” he said. “Big mailers are the lifeblood of the postal market and it’s important to get feedback from them.”
The consultation document includes key questions for stakeholders, inviting responses that, together with research, will form the basis of the Postcomm Strategy Review.
“Now is the time to ask some fundamental questions – such as ensuring we continue to meet people’s needs for a quality, universal postal service,” said Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton. “We are also asking questions about whether Postcomm, while still promoting deregulation, can do more to ensure customers benefit from competition.”
Postcomm is also examining how customers’ needs might develop over the next five to 10 years, whether the market will grow, the effects of email and web shopping on the market, and how Royal Mail’s operations impact other operators.
