An Post deprived of sole right to deliver small mail

AN POST has lost its exclusive right to deliver postcards and small letters after a law was signed to remove the last traces of the company’s monopoly on the country’s postal services.

In what Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte described as a “considerable challenge” for An Post, any commercial postal company can now offer collection and delivery services for all types of mail and parcels. Bulk business mail and parcel post has been gradually opened up to competition but, up to yesterday, An Post retained exclusive rights to items under 50 grammes, meaning it had control over most residential mail.

The new Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act removes that clause, but An Post said customers would not experience any change to its services, pointing out that it is still legally required to fulfil a universal service obligation (USO) — delivering to every address, no matter how remote — for at least the next seven years.