Tag: Italy

EU delays Postal Service shakeup

Posted by | Jun 11, 2007 | |

Rather than stick to a 2009 deadline to open postal markets, the EU will likely O.K. different dates for different countries

The new emerging timetable looks likely to list different dates for different countries, with the latest deadlines mooted between 2012 and 2013, according to observers.

The EU started out on the road to opening up the 90 billion postal sector 15 years ago and the current proposal would finalise the process, meaning that national postal operators would lose their monopoly over the distribution of any type of mail, including letters weighing less than 50 grammes.

Britain and Sweden have already completed the liberalisation of their postal markets while Germany, the Netherlands and Finland are en route to doing so – with their ministers favouring the Brussels plan.

But in countries where a public company still has a full or partial monopoly to deliver these services – such as France’s La Poste or Italy’s Poste Italiane, the liberalisation move could lead to considerable job losses.

Some new member states such as Poland also expressed concerns that their postal services are not yet prepared for such a step forward.

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Italian Express Delivery Firm Bartolini Launches Services in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

Italian express delivery company Bartolini has launched services in EU newcomers Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Greece, the company said on Thursday.

The company will offer the services through its partner, German sector firm Deutscher Paket Dienst (DPD), Bartolini said in a statement.

Bartolini, one of the main express delivery firms in Italy, offers services to a total of 25 countries in Europe. Outside Italy, the company works with DPD and its partners from EuroExpress.

Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the European Union in January, have attracted large numbers of foreign investors in various sectors of their economies over the past few years. Service companies have followed investors in finance, real estate and tourism, telecommunications and industry, to take advantage of the business opportunities offered by the EU accession.

Some of the key express delivery companies in Bulgaria and Romania are international firms TNT, DHL and UPS. There are strong local players in Romania – Cargus, Fan Courier and Curiero.

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European postal operators express caution on the liberalisation of the postal market.

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

As the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are about to decide on a proposal of the European Commission to fully liberalise the European postal market in 2009, 12 postal operators, in charge of providing the universal service in their countries, express their support for the cautious approach followed in the ongoing debates.

The postal operators of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia observe with interest the caution that characterises the majority of debates in the EU Parliament on the issue of postal market liberalisation.

Over the past few months several signatory postal operators have highlighted the difficulty of identifying and implementing a financing mechanism that guarantees the continuity of the universal postal service in the event of full liberalisation of the market.

Faced with this problem, several debates in the EU Parliament called for caution and raised crucial issues such as viable financing mechanisms of the universal service, dangers of social dumping and the necessary conditions for a level playing field between market players. As a result, three European Parliamentary Committees as well the European Social and Economic Committee proposed new dates for the completion of the internal market for postal services, to be confirmed if appropriate. In the meantime, all efforts must be constructively spent to propose adequate solutions to the above mentioned points which are essential to make liberalisation possible.

The 12 signatory postal operators support a responsible approach and assert that the actual uncertainties must be addressed before the current system of financing of the universal postal service is put to an end.

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Vodafone virtual mobile commitments accepted by Italy's antitrust authority

Posted by | May 29, 2007 | |

Italy’s antitrust authority said it has accepted commitments made by Vodafone Group PLC to open its network to virtual mobile operators, ending its probe into Vodafone without imposition of sanctions.

The authority said its decision follows contracts signed by Vodafone with BT Group PLC and Carrefour enabling them to set up Italian virtual mobile operations, plus a similar preliminary contract with Poste Italiane.

‘The authority has considered the contract signed by Vodafone with BT Italia for wholesale access services to its network to be a decisive element,’ the authority said in a statement.

BT will be able to offer a wide range of mobile services including GSM, GPRS and UMTS as well as offering integrated fixed-mobile and mobile-mobile services for company customers, it said.

‘In addition, the contract’s conditions on termination fees allow BT Italia to make a fixed-mobile offer to company clients that competes with the one offered by Vodafone,’ it said.

On the Italian post office preliminary contract, the authority said this is particularly important because of the extensive sales network the post office has available.

The authority launched its investigation into mobile sector competition in February 2005, with Telecom Italia SpA and Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA also being probed.

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