If you count the Royal Mail, German or Dutch PTTs amongst your clients, you should be aware that La Poste is probably interested in talking to you.
The liberalisation of Europe’s postal services happens in 3 stages. In January 2003, the market for letters above 100g was opened. As of January 2006, the market for letters above 50g will be opened. By next year, therefore, 43% of postal traffic will be open to full competition. Full liberalisation comes as of January 2009.
France’s PTT is far less competitive than its German or Dutch counterparts: the German post makes 10x the profits of the French post.
Today, La Poste is scrambling to invest to ensure its survival. There are two key issues: re-focussing staff and IT investment.
France has twice as many post offices per inhabitant as Germany. Taking a page from the Royal Mail, the French PTT is looking to transform many rural post offices into “postal contact points”. The local shopkeeper, for example, would sell stamps and even cash cheques.
The French PTT has been starved of investment for many years and is now racing to catch up. It is investing €3.4Bn to set up from scratch 20 sorting platforms throughout France and is currently holding tenders for software applications. Its ambition is to have the most modern sorting centres in Europe.
Address: IBT Partners - 17 rue du Colisée - 75008 Paris - France
If you count the Royal Mail, German or Dutch PTTs amongst your clients, you should be aware that La Poste is probably interested in talking to you.