Postcomm welcomes likely access agreement
Postcomm Chairman Graham Corbett today (17 December) welcomed the announcement that Royal Mail and UK Mail are likely to reach a voluntary agreement over the prices and conditions under which Royal Mail will carry its rival’s letters over “the final mile”. Mr Corbett said:
”This is excellent news that should benefit both businesses and consumers. It opens the way to competitive innovation in service delivery. And it should enable Royal Mail to earn money by delivering UK Mail’s post, while UK Mail will benefit from Royal Mail’s extensive network which reaches every household in the UK.
“Postcomm had always hoped that access agreements would be negotiated by the parties involved rather than having to be imposed by us, so it is good news to see the industry moving decisively towards taking responsibility for its own commercial arrangements.
“Achieving access through a voluntary commercial agreement will avoid the delay and uncertainty that would have been the inevitable consequence of Royal Mail’s threatened legal challenge.
“I expect competition in postal services to begin to gather pace now that Royal Mail recognises the commercial advantages of agreeing access prices with operators for its final mile delivery.”
Background:- Postcomm was asked to determine access prices after talks between the companies originally broke down. Following initial proposals last May, Postcomm’s final proposals were due for publication this week. It was in anticipation of Postcomm’s decision that the two companies re-opened their direct negotiations.
Postcomm has agreed to postpone publication of its latest proposals until the end of January 2004 to enable both parties to finalise the details of their agreement. If a final agreement is reached, Postcomm will issue a paper giving its views on an appropriate framework for other firms whose business model requires access to Royal Mail’s extensive delivery network. In the event that agreement is not finalised, Postcomm’s proposals will be published in their original form shortly afterwards.
