Year: 2008

PRC seeks comment on USPS annual compliance report

The US Postal Service filed its annual compliance report for the fiscal year 2007 with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The PRC is seeking feedback on the report in order to determine if it complies with Title 39 of the United States Code. The report includes detailed costs, revenues and volumes for all classes and types of mail. It also provides service measurement and customer satisfaction data. Comments are due by January 30, while reply comments are due on February 13.

For interested parties, the PRC will be holding two informal technical conferences on January 11 and January 23 at its hearing room in Washington. USPS analysts will be on hand to answer questions about the report, as well as concerns about the periodicals cost model.

This is the first compliance report that the USPS has filed since the passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 by Congress. However, because fiscal year 2007 was a transition period, postal rates and fees during this year were governed by provisions of the former Postal Reorganization Act, rather than the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

In the report, the USPS noted that it plans to file its comprehensive statement for fiscal year 2007 with the PRC in early or mid-January.

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OPTA (Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands), publishes its Vision 2008

OPTA (Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands), publishes its Vision 2008. – January 2, 2008
Press Release
OPTA presents its Vision 2008: ‘OPTA focuses regulation on prevention and decisions supported by market parties’. Today OPTA, the Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority of the Netherlands, published its Vision 2008. In addition to the developments in the electronic communications and postal markets which the regulatory authority outlines in this document, it also sets out its vision for regulation and its role as a regulator. To OPTA market developments are leading for its regulatory activities. Convergence, which refers to the merging of markets, is still the overriding force in the electronic communications markets. The dynamics of these markets demand effective regulation by OPTA. The regulatory authority is capitalising on this by increasingly moving towards prevention and seeking decisions that are supported by market parties. Policy on electronic communications Due to convergence the regulation of electronic communications is becoming more closely related to the regulation of media and frequencies. OPTA uses ‘convergence’ as a reference to technological developments that are making it possible to provide content and applications through multiple, different types of networks using identical techniques. In the case of frequencies, mobile and wireless networks are capable of providing the similar services as those of conventional fixed networks. This means that the issue of such frequencies has an economic impact on the markets which OPTA regulates. With regard to media, convergence is increasingly raising questions involving the effects (ancillary or otherwise) which obligations imposed by the Media Act [Mediawet] have on competition in the electronic communications markets. This requires that OPTA and its fellow regulatory authorities work more closely together in this field. The regulation of telecommunications in the Netherlands is rated second on a recent European scorecard [1]. The main difference between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which topped the list, is that responsibility for regulating both frequencies and media has been vested in the British regulator, Ofcom. OPTA deems it advisable for the government to envision a broader policy on the interaction and relationship between the policies governing media, frequencies and sector-specific competition for the telecommunications sector. Focus on prevention and decisions supported by market parties OPTA endeavours to adopt a tailored approach in its regulatory work, being flexible where possible and strict where necessary. For instance, OPTA only imposes remedies where there are grounds for doing so, for example, if this is evident in market analyses. This method of operation complements the government’s view of “high trust”, which entails that a regulator and those parties subject to its regulation move towards developing a relationship that is characterised by trust, which confines the burden of regulation to a minimum, and which involves the imposition of stiffer sanctions if this trust is betrayed. After 10 years of (telecoms)regulation OPTA’s focus is shifting to prevention. For these reasons, it welcomes businesses that are working on a compliance programme. Consequently, OPTA is closely monitoring the compliance programme which KPN is establishing. In addition, OPTA is seeking solutions that enjoy the support of market parties involved, because this can improve the effectiveness of its regulatory work, for example, by avoiding wearisome legal proceedings. The threat of regulation is necessary for this purpose. Examples of this include the leading role which OPTA is playing in relation to the market parties involved in the All-IP process and the covenant agreed to by mobile telephony service providers, under the terms of which terminating call charges have been reduced.

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Deutsche Post's DHL buys Singapore facility for 38 million Singapore dollars (USD 26.49 million)

DHL said it has bought a cargo transshipment facility in Singapore from Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) for 38 million Singapore dollars.

The facility has been operating under lease from SATS since 2001.

The facility, which sits on an 18,000 square meter site, is capable of processing 5,300 shipments per hour at its peak and is expected to increase its cargo handling capacity to more than 11,000 shipments per hour by 2011.

“Our infrastructure in Singapore is an important link in our network of express hubs in Asia Pacific, and owning the building allows for future expansion as trade flows increase,” said Stephen Fenwick, DHL Express’ senior vice president for operations in Asia Pacific.

DHL’s hubs in Asia are in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Incheon, Shanghai and Sydney.

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Q-Post was ‘less productive’ in 2007

Q-POST was “less productive” during 2007 in comparison with previous years, Q-Post chairman Ali Mohamed al-Ali has said.

In an interview with Qatar Radio on Monday Al-Ali said that “high inflation” had its negative influence also on the postal sector and “it was the reason behind the drop in the corporation’s performance.”

“Our services to the public were much less than our ambitions,” the official said.
He said that issuance of new stamps “was not everything” in the postal field and the main goal when the corporation was established in 2001 was to present the best postal services to the public.

The official said his corporation needs to re-evaluate the services it provides.
He said: “Talented Qatari nationals are leaving Q-Post for other companies because of the poor salaries they earn here, as the corporation attracts less attention than others at the official level”.

“Our only achievement in 2007 was the issuance of a stamp of Qatar’s rulers,” Al-Ali said and added: “But that was too modest one.”

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Shanghai airports report double-digit rise in passenger handling business

Shanghai’s two airports handled a record 51.57 million passengers last year, an 11.8 percent increase over 2006.

The Pudong International and Hongqiao airports offered services to 440,809 planes in total in 2007, up 7.61 percent. Pudong handled 58 percent, or 253,671 takeoffs and landings, while Hongqiao accommodated 42 percent, or 187,138 takeoffs and landings, according to a Shanghai Airport Authority source.

Pudong was the only airport in the world to provide a dual presence for courier companies UPS and DHL. It ranked fifth globally for cargo and mail handling volume in the first three quarters of 2007, said the source.

Currently, 71 domestic and overseas air companies have been operating regular air routes to Shanghai, linking the Chinese financial and commercial hub with 179 cities worldwide.

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Poland's Post Office Still Delivering Mail for Polish Christmas Past

Because of a large labor shortage of letter carriers and staff in the post offices sorting mail, the Polish post office is still delivering mail from the year 2007 Christmas season. It hopes to have all the pre-Christmas delivered in Poland by January 15, 2008.

The exodus of Polish workers to western Europe is having a significant impact on many services provided in Poland. And one of the basic services suffering under an uncontrollable burden is the Polish postal system.

In spite of between 1.5 and 2 million being unemployed, there is a significant shortage of workers and lack of applicants to fill the jobs in the postal system.

There are businesses in Warsaw that ordered product in early November 2007 for sale during the 2008 Christmas season that still have not seen it. Those products, shipped in early November, are somewhere in the postal system. They represent lost sales and unproductive capital.

Even though the postal system indicates that it hopes to deliver the Christmas mail by about 15 January, no one has not said anything about what will happen to the remainder of the mail that went into the system after Christmas. And it does not say if mail delivery will get back to normal or suffer a decline in service level as people leave the country.

During December of 2007 some companies that had a problem using the mail service tried to use couriers. But couriers were generally not able to meet the demands. They have labor problems, too. They tended to limit their services to those who had pre-existing contracts with them.

The Polish postal service is a service that has been criticized for many years and tends not to get much attention or sympathy from the Polish public. But it is getting it now and the attention that it is getting is not good.

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Magyar Posta to spend EUR 4.3 m on new bikes

The Hungarian Postal Service (Magyar Posta) is to spend HUF 1.1 billion (EUR 4.34 m) to buy nearly 4,800 bicycles and 30 bicycle trailers, mfor.hu has reported on Wednesday. The price includes maintenance services and also occasional repair jobs for five years.

The public procurement tender was won by Gyõr-based (northwest Hungary) Cronopont Kft. with an offer of net HUF 1,097 million. The other bidder and runner-up was Debrecen-based (eastern Hungary) Piremon Kht. with a HUF 1,167 m offer.

The winner is to deliver 640 bikes (with option for further 245) and 4,148 bikes (with an option for further 1,676) and 30 bicycle trailers to Magyar Posta. The contract also includes maintenance for five years and repairs up to HUF 150 m.

Tamás Tomecskó, spokesman for Magyar Posta, told local newswire MTI that Cronopont would deliver KRPAN bicycles, which are manufactured in Slovenia and are already used by the postal services in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Estonia. An order by Finland’s Post is also underway and KRPAN said there might be an interest for its product from France.

The highest total weight allowed on the bicycle is 200 kilograms and the bike – with full equipment – weighs around 25-28 kg.

The frame of the KRPAN bicycle is made of aluminous tubes, with a special temperature-resistant layer. The weight of the frame amounts 2.2 kg. Additional reinforcements ensure a greater load capacity, safer ride and longer usage. 26” frame allows the bicyclist to get on and off the bicycle very easily. Furthermore it allows the construction of the rear hub with inner gears. The shape of the rear of the bicycle gives the opportunity to construct the hub without, or with three inner gears.

The front and the rear carriers are of steel construction and are fixed on special holders on the frame. In the case of a fall, the carrier protect the bicyclist and the carried goods from possible damage. The rear carriers have a serial manufacture of connections for a trolley.

Tomecskó said the company would have regular one-speed and three-speed bicycles with Shimano Nexus hubs.

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