Postcomm publishes details on Royal Mail access deal

by Staff,, Brand Republic 02-Apr-04, 07:00

LONDON – Postcomm has published its observations on the access agreement under which Royal Mail will deliver mail for UK Mail to assist other interested parties expecting a similar deal.

The news comes as Deutsche Post, the German delivery company, has agreed to use Royal Mail's delivery network. Terms are exactly the same as those announced in February between Royal Mail and UK Mail.

The document, 'Promoting effective competition in UK postal services through downstream access', is available on Postcomm's website and gives other interested parties an indication of Postcomm's position on the agreement. It states which aspects it endorses and which it does not.

Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton said: "Downstream access is crucial to the success of competition in postal services. This agreement enables Royal Mail to earn revenue by delivering UK Mail's post and at the same time allows UK Mail and its customers to benefit from Royal Mail's nationwide delivery network."

Stapleton also said that he expected the deal to lead to others and said that the document should ensure that agreements could be reached more quickly in the future.

Under the agreement made in February UK Mail will collect mail from its customers and pass it to Royal Mail's inward mail centres for delivery the next day. The document shows that the average prices agreed between Royal Mail and UK Mail were very close to those Postcomm would have proposed. Prices charged by Royal Mail for this "final mile" service range from 13p for a letter weighing up to 60g to around £3.65 for an item weighing two kilos.

Postcomm has announced that it will monitor the effectiveness of the agreement.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.