2011 Postal Sector Report
The Monopolies Commission has presented its seventh special report on competition trends in the postal markets. The report is entitled ‘Post 2011: Opening up opportunities for competition’. Compared with the last special report on the postal sector, published in 2009, the Monopolies Commission notes that the competitive situation has remained relatively unchanged.
A multitude of institutional barriers to competition are responsible for this stagnant competitive development. For instance, under the Postal Services Act, the Federal Network Agency does not have sufficient investigative powers to effectively uncover and then remedy abusive behaviour by the market-dominant Deutsche Post AG (DPAG). The Monopolies Commission has put forward numerous proposals to amend the Postal Act in this regard.
The rise in competitors’ market shares to just over 10 per cent cannot hide the fact that competition in the letter markets is stagnating and that there is still no effective competition in those markets.
