Tag: Italy

Italy's antitrust accepts post office commitments to end liberalisation probe

Posted by | Feb 28, 2008 | |

Italy’s antitrust authority said it has decided to accept commitments made by Poste Italiane SpA to settle an investigation into the post office’s market position in liberalised services.

Last August, the authority launched the probe after a series of complaints from private postal operators and from TNT Post Italia SpA.

Today, the authority said the post office commitments should remove the anti-competitive issues raised by the state company’s conduct.

The commitments proposed by the post office have been strengthened as a result of ‘market testing’ with rivals, it said.

The commitments include a tender for concessions to collect and deliver post in 70 different urban areas with an overall value of 168 mln eur over three years, it said.

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Publication of Postal Directive marks start date for real market opening

Posted by | Feb 27, 2008 | |

The publication marks the entry into force of the directive and sets the clock ticking for abolishing legal monopolies on postal services by 31 December 2010. The Directive is the result of a broad political consensus on the way forward for the regulatory framework of European postal services. The Commission will monitor and assist Member States pro-actively in implementing the Directive. In particular, it will pay close attention to potential entry barriers that would deprive users of the benefit of a dynamic and open market.

The mission of EU postal reform continues. Next steps will require close monitoring of the development of competition notably by national regulatory authorities whose role has now been strengthened further. Particular attention will be paid to quality and prices of universal postal service. The Commission services will assist Member States in the transposition of the Directive to ensure that postal reform remains true to its objective of high quality and innovative postal services.

The text published reflects the overall political agreement between the institutions and keeps the key elements of the Commission’s initial proposal and in particular: the accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services via the abolition of the reserved area in all Member States; the confirmation of the scope and standard of universal service; reinforcement of consumers’ rights and upgrading of the role of national regulatory authorities; the offering of a list of measures Member States may take to safeguard and finance, if necessary, the universal service.

With the removal of reserved areas, users of postal services can expect the services available to them to develop and further improve. In this open environment, universal service providers will be motivated to become more reliable and efficient and to further increase their customer focus in the light of potential competition from new market entrants. In line with the goals of the Lisbon agenda, full market opening will also directly foster the creation of new jobs in new postal companies, and, indirectly, in the industries dependent on the postal sector.

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Bartolini opens new depots across Italy

Posted by | Feb 20, 2008 | |

Bartolini, one of the leading express parcel companies in Italy, has continued to expand its network with the opening of several new depots and branches across the country in January and February.

On 4 February, the company transferred its branch at Ferrara, between Bologna and Venice, to a new and more modern facility, equipped with an automatic parcel sorting system. The new facility, covering an area of approximately 7,000 sqm, will serve Ferrara province and part of Modena province.

On 7 January, Bartolini opened a 10,000 sqm new terminal at Pisa-Lavoria. The new facility is equipped with a new generation automatic parcel sorting system and will serve the Pontedera, Volterra and Crespina areas and their provinces for all types of goods, and the Lucca, Pisa and Livorno districts for goods weighing more than 100 kg.

On the same day, a new 10,000 sqm depot was opened at Cassino on the main A1 motorway between Rome and Naples. “The opening of the new branch will allow a vast area of the Frosinone, Latina, Caserta and Isernia provinces to be served,” Bartolini announced.

On 21 January, Bartolini opened a new branch at Salzano, close to Venice. The new facility, covering an area of approximately 7,000 sqm and equipped with an automatic parcel sorting system, will serve the area at the junction of Padua, Venice and Treviso provinces.

Two smaller town offices were also opened during January. A 1,000 sqm depot was opened at Genola, mid-way between Turin and Savona, to serve the surrounding region. A similarly-sized branch, equipped with an automatic parcel sorting system, will opened at Cattolica, between Rimini and Pesaro, to serve the coastal area from Riccione to Pesaro and interior areas.

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IPC’s The Future of Mail by Air is featured at IATA World Cargo Symposium in Rome

Posted by | Feb 13, 2008 | |

If you want to learn more about the IPC initiative on The Future of Mail by Air and how posts and carriers are working together towards paper free transport of mail by air, piece ID level tracking, booking and electronic accounting of mail, the IATA World Cargo Symposium is the place to be.

The World Cargo Symposium will be held March 3-6 in Rome. The ”Airmail Management” event at the next IATA World Cargo Symposium will focus on the challenges for posts and airlines to meet growing customer demands and explore the opportunities to effectively manage the increasing volumes of mail.

Over 800 cargo professionals from around the world participated in the first International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Cargo Symposium, which took place last year in Mexico City. This one-week global mega-conference featured 140 speakers, 28 exhibitors and 12 sponsors in one single gathering.
IPC will take the lead in addressing some misperceptions when it comes to mail.

Mail is perceived by some to be a traditional letter product, difficult to manage and insignificant in terms of volumes. Perceptions are that multi-media and internet alternatives are replacing mail; when in fact, multi-media and internet have become drivers of mail growth. Direct mail advertising is growing and driving the expansion of the packages and parcels market. Even though merchandise is being purchased via the internet, the packages and small parcels purchased are delivered by traditional mail channels, increasing the need for capacity on the airlines.

IPC, as an operator’s association representing 24 of the world’s leading posts and 140 participating posts, wants to attract attention to the expanding business of this mail category and the growing business opportunities mail transport provides to the airlines.

If you are interested in this topic, you may follow the link below to register for the IATA World Cargo Symposium online. Make sure you register for the MAIL TRACK event. You will meet the mail industry leaders and airlines that are working to provide visibility to meet increasing customer demands and working together towards a reliable and sustainable, paper free mail transport by air!

http://iata.com/events/wcs08/index.htm

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Latest ‘Future of Mail’ paper: “Mail Trends Update” by Fouad Nader (Adrenale Corp.) and Michael Lintell (Pitney Bowes)

Posted by | Feb 1, 2008 | |

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of press articles and statements from posts predicting that mail volumes would decline. New technologies and process innovations have been introduced, preoccupying researchers and managers in the postal and mailing industries with the impact of accelerating electronic substitution and changing customer behaviors. What are the actual trends that emerge from examining in detail the best information available from key countries? What historical perspectives, trends and emerging patterns may be useful in understanding how mail volumes may evolve in the future? The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight into the key trends identified and discussed in the previous Mail Trends Analyses by comprehensively examining the evolution of mail and analyzing postal volumes along key variables that influence mail demand. This paper builds on the considerable research that followed the original mail trends analysis and was documented in the Background Papers published at www.postinsight.pb.com for the project: “Electronic Substitution for Mail: Models and Results, Myth and Reality.” The paper also takes advantage of recent work in the study of the “Future of Mail”, also on postinsight.pb.com.

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