Tag: Italy

Europe’s post faces law of the jungle

Posted by | Oct 2, 2007 | |

UNI-Europa Post & Logistics has condemned the decision by the Council of European Union Ministers meeting in Luxembourg to go ahead with total de-regulation in the postal sector by 2011/13.

Without clear provisions to fund the universal postal service and without secure provisions in the new directive to protect wage dumping, UNI-Europa Post & Logistics warns that post faces the law of the jungle.

Ministers agreed to full market opening of postal services by 31 December 2010 and for 11 member states by 31 December 2012. The 11 exceptions are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
This is in line with the decision taken by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 11 July.

The Council’s common position is due to be finally adopted at a forthcoming meeting after the second reading of the directive in the European Parliament.

Protection for some mail services, which have allowed traditional operators to cross-subsidise services to rural, mountain and island communities will disappear.

The question of financing the universal postal service obligation will be up to individual member states with the risk of adding extra burdens on taxpayers.

Individual governments and regulators will now be the focus of union pressure to ensure funding for a universal postal service and to strengthen directive provisions to prevent unfair competition.

Unions want common employment and social standards build into regulations and operating licenses to stop wage dumping and head off the replacement of decent jobs by precarious work.

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EU Agrees on Postal Competition Starting in 2011

Posted by | Oct 1, 2007 | |

European Union governments agreed to start local mail competition in 2011, two years later than Deutsche Post AG, TNT NV and other providers were seeking to expand into new countries.

Countries must open their markets to foreign competitors for delivering standard letters, in the compromise reached today at a meeting of national ministers in Luxembourg. Still, 11 of the 27 EU countries get two extra years, until 2013, to prepare their current providers.

The compromise won over France and other nations that opposed an earlier plan for competition in 2009. The initiative will end monopolies such as that of France’s La Poste in standard letters, which are two-thirds of the region’s 88 billion-euro (USD 125 billion) postal market, according to the EU executive agency.

Deutsche Post will continue to examine postal markets in Europe and elsewhere, Uwe Bensien, a spokesman in Bonn, said by telephone.

Letters up to 50 grams (1.8 ounces) are the final piece of the mail industry being opened, after a decade of phased-in deregulation. That business is more profitability than package or express delivery, according to the European Commission, the EU agency where McCreevy oversees internal market policy.

EU countries that allowed postal competition before the 2011 deadline include the U.K., Finland and Sweden. Germany and the Netherlands plan to follow suit Jan. 1.

Countries eligible for the extra two-year delay include Luxembourg, the country of half a million people whose service would be dwarfed by neighboring rivals, and Greece, with territory spread over hundreds of islands. Nine of the 12 countries that joined the EU since 2004 also gained the extra time. Estonia, Bulgaria and Slovenia will adhere to the 2011 deadline.

Portugal, holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, drafted the compromise in line with a European Parliament vote in July. The initiative still needs final approval by majorities in both the Parliament and the national governments, whose votes are weighted by country population, to become law.

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Poste Italiane Net Profit Up 18.1 Pct Y/Y H1 2007

Posted by | Sep 25, 2007 | |

Italian state-owned postal services company Poste Italiane closed the first six months of 2007 with a net profit of 448 mln euro (USD 630.8 mln), up 18.1 pct compared to the first half of 2006.

The operating profit marked an increase of 8.3 pct to 959 mln euro (USD 1.35 bln).

Poste Italiane generated a revenue of 9.5 bln euro (USD 13.376 bln), a rise of 8.6 pct. The revenue from traditional activities amounted to 2.8 bln euro (USD 3.9 bln), up 3.4 pct. The revenue from financial services went up 4.5 pct and the revenue from insurance services grew by 15.6 pct.

The number of current accounts of Italian bank BancoPosta, a unit of Poste Italiane, stood at 5.1 million in June 2007, up from 4.9 million in December 2006.

The number of pre-paid Postepay cards increased to 3.3 million in June 2007 from 2.8 million in December 2006. The number of debit cards issued rose to 5.9 million in June 2007 from 5.6 million at the end of 2006.

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BT signs communication services agreement with DHL Express Italy

Posted by | Sep 14, 2007 | |

A three year agreement for the supply of communication services has been signed by communication services and solutions provider BT and DHL Express Italy, an international express transport services company.

BT said BT Italy will manage and develop the domestic data transmission network of DHL Express, under the terms of the agreement, connecting its 180+ Italian offices and seven contact centers and providing voice services. It confirmed the agreement incorporates a switch from traditional voice to VoIP-based services and includes the supply of 3,000 next-generation IP phones.

According to BT, it will also provide a new contact centre platform, developed in cooperation with Cisco, to manage over 1,100 operator desks in DHL Express’s seven Italian contact centers. It said a centralized platform hosted within BT’s Milan and Rome data centers will be used to supply services for VoIP and contact centers.

The new network will use the full potential of IP MPLS technology and ensure security, reliability, speed and scalability.

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Mr. Price and TNT Italy sign agreement

Posted by | Sep 6, 2007 | |

Mr.Price, one of the most important online sales website of electronic and electro domestic products in Italy signed an agreement with TNT Italy.

The agreement includes the delivery of the products, installation, in-house test and pick up service of all range of products offered by Mr. price website: refrigerators, laundry machines, TV, etc.

The agreement covers all regions in Italy, including rural areas. The customers can set the date and time of delivery at the moment of purchase.

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