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Postal Services: Quo Vadis?

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The Changing Postal Environment

Part of the book series: Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy ((TREP))

Abstract

This paper examines the dramatic changes that postal services and postal service providers worldwide have undergone over the last 50 years..Different responses to the changes demanded by the users of postal services and policy makers and the emergence of competing services, particularly those driven by electronic communication, are noteworthy. No longer is the scope of postal service providers’ activities homogeneous. Quo Vadis? Is there a role for government in the provision of postal services in the future? And what will those services look like? Will there be vertical or horizontal diversification or both? The paper assesses what changes the future may hold.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “The Post Office” was established by the Post Office Act 1969 UKPGA 1969 c48 as an autonomous public authority. Section 6(5) of the Act declared that “… the Post Office is not to be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown, or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown, or (subject to the express provisions of this Act relating to stamp duty) as exempt from any tax, duty, rate, levy or other charge whatsoever, whether general or local, and that its property is not to be regarded as property of, or property held on behalf of, the Crown.”

  2. 2.

    Universal Postal Union.

  3. 3.

    In 1970 35 per cent of households in the UK owned a telephone; by 1985 penetration had reached 81%. Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/289158/telephone-presence-in-households-in-the-uk/

  4. 4.

    See Duncan Campbell-Smith (2011) p. 5.

  5. 5.

    See Duncan Campbell-Smith (2011) p. 37.

  6. 6.

    See Duncan Campbell-Smith (2011) p. 59–60.

  7. 7.

    See AIRMAIL CREATES AN INDUSTRY: Postal Act Facts Smithsonian National Postal Museum USA https://postalmuseum.si.edu/airmail/airmail/public/airmail_public_postal_long.html

  8. 8.

    See Hearn (2014) for further details.

  9. 9.

    23 countries as listed in the table, but notably only including 14 of the 28 EU member states.

  10. 10.

    See footnote 9 supra.

  11. 11.

    According to the OECD, SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) are non-subsidiary, independent firms which employ fewer than a given number of employees, normally 250 employees, as in the European Union, but as high as 500 employees as in the USA.

  12. 12.

    An Post has been used as an example solely because of the availability of information.

  13. 13.

    It should be borne in mind that 12.4% of An Post’s delivered traffic originates abroad, and because of this, the proportion of stamped mail may be overstated.

  14. 14.

    Including charities and other “not for profit” organizations.

  15. 15.

    See, for example, https://www.royalmail.com/corporate/services/account.

  16. 16.

    Figures taken from Royal Mail plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 2017–2018 and Royal Mail plc.

    Prospectus 27 September 2013.

  17. 17.

    See footnote 9 supra.

  18. 18.

    See https://www.royalmail.com/corporate/marketing-data/marketing/benefits-marketing-mail

  19. 19.

    For example, Deutsche Post/DHL, Post Danmark, La Poste (France), bPost (Belgium), and Poczta Polska (Polish Post).

  20. 20.

    For example, Posten Se.

  21. 21.

    For example, Royal Mail (UK), An Post (Ireland).

  22. 22.

    Payment was not paid for all mail delivered but only for the imbalance. For example, if Country B receives 100 tons of mail from Country A but sends 50 tons to Country A, it would be paid for 50 tons, and Country A would receive nothing.

  23. 23.

    Arranging for mailings to be posted in a foreign company to avail of international rates cheaper than domestic rates in the destination country.

  24. 24.

    See Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods.

  25. 25.

    See House of Commons Library Briefing Paper 4155 (2017).

  26. 26.

    See “State Dept. Backs Plan for U.S. to Set Own Global Package Rates” https://about.bgov.com/news/state-dept-backs-plan-for-u-s-to-set-own-global-package-rates/

  27. 27.

    See http://news.upu.int/no_cache/nd/upu-member-countries-vote-to-hold-geneva-extraordinary-congress-on-terminal-dues-system/

  28. 28.

    The International Air Transport Association.

  29. 29.

    See Order 2007-3-23 issued by the USA Department of Transportation on the 30th day of March 2007.

  30. 30.

    See House of Commons Briefing Paper Number 7550, 12 April 2019 “The Post Office.”

  31. 31.

    See An Post Annual Report 2017, p. 6.

  32. 32.

    Deutsche Post (DHL).

  33. 33.

    Royal Mail (GLS) and La Poste (France) (DPD).

  34. 34.

    Volume not greater than 0.027 m3 and weight not exceeding 2 kg.

  35. 35.

    That is, items larger than the limits for packets and normally with an upper limit of. 0.1875 m3 and 30 kg.

  36. 36.

    See TPR (2015) and The European Economic and Social Committee (2016) which suggest market shares varying between 10% and 25%.

  37. 37.

    Asendia, the joint venture between La Poste (France) and Swiss Post, is a 40% shareholder in eShopWorld, an eCommerce company that provides a technology platform to brands and retailers that wish to sell online into global markets.

    Also the An Post website provides links to facilities to help new e-retailers, including a link to the platform “www.Iloveshopping.ie.” See https://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/GeneralTemplates/AboutUsStandard.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7b2C5300D3-CF17-4CB7-AACB-BEA4D9DDF8CD%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2fAnPost%2fMainContent%2fBusiness%2bCustomers%2fecommerce%2feCommerce%2bExperts%2ehtm&NRCACHEHINT=Guest#Getting

  38. 38.

    Deutsche Post, La Poste, Royal Mail.

  39. 39.

    UPS, FedEx.

  40. 40.

    The term 7 till late is used as the normal opening times for such shops as the closing time varies considerably from country to country but typically would be 10 pm, 11 pm, or midnight.

  41. 41.

    See, for example, the acquisition of UK Mail by Deutsche Post and the subsequent investment over GBÂŁ21 m to support recent and future growth. See https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/28/deutsche-post-agrees-to-buy-uk-mail and https://ukmail.com/news/2017/08/21/uk-mail-invests-over-21m-(-23m)-in-regional-network-to-support-growth

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Formerly ComReg and vice-chair CERP, Dublin, Ireland

    John Hearn

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  1. John Hearn
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Badia Fiesolana, European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy

    Pier Luigi Parcu

  2. Baltimore County (UMBC), University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Timothy J. Brennan

  3. Rutgers Business School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Victor Glass

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Hearn, J. (2020). Postal Services: Quo Vadis?. In: Parcu, P.L., Brennan, T.J., Glass, V. (eds) The Changing Postal Environment. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34532-7_3

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