Service and Competition 2008 - PTS-ER-2008:10
15/04/2008
The Terms of Reference for the National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) indicate, among other things, the Agency's assignments in the postal sector. Some of these tasks include describing how the central government regulatory framework in the sector is complied with and how Posten AB has fulfilled its undertakings within the universal postal service. The Agency must also describe the market situation and the changes that have taken place over the year.
Within the European Union, work to liberalise the postal market has continued and a new directive was adopted in early 2008 aimed at full liberalisation of this market by 2011 with the exception of a few countries which have until 2013. However, the progress of Member States in this process has varied and only the United Kingdom has been added to the very limited group of countries in which the monopoly has been abolished completely.
No major changes took place in the Swedish postal market during 2007. There was a slight reduction in the total number of items of correspondence compared with the previous year. Posten AB reports reduced volumes, whereas CityMail's volumes increased slightly compared with 2007.*)
PTS also reports on how Posten AB fulfils the requirements that the government has imposed on the universal postal service. In 2007, there were no price changes for those services encompassed by what is referred to as the 'ceiling price for individual items of mail', as the consumer price index has not allowed any scope for increases. There have been few changes within Posten AB's service network since its overall restructuring, which took place between 2001 and 2002. In the assessment of PTS, Posten AB fulfils the government's requirements as regards service and service quality. As regards the number of items that could be delivered on the following day, Posten AB is, as usual, well within the minimum requirements stipulated in the licence conditions.
The compliance of other postal operators with their licence conditions is also assessed to be satisfactory and PTS has only had to point out a few things in conjunction with supervisory visits.
The applicable regulatory framework is assessed to satisfy the requirement of suitability based on the observations that PTS has made concerning the state of the postal market.
*) In the press release of 1 April 2008, it was announced that Posten AB and Post Danmark have decided to merge. The reason behind this is that the companies wish to meet the increasing challenges of the market through increased competitiveness.