Major mail users give the stamp of approval to email

Australia Post rate hike fires its biggest customers to accelerate the move away from printed communications.

Plans by the Major Mail Users Association to rebrand as The Communications Alliance were given a boost by the new pricing structures for domestic and bulk presort mail that came into effect this week. Further and more frequent mail price rises by Australia Post are forecast despite concerns expressed by the competition watchdog, ACCC.

At the second of its Industry in Transition lunches in Sydney last week, John Gillroy, CEO MMUA, expressed frustration at the breakdown in communications between Australia Post and its largest customers. He warned that with the advent of e-mail the postal monopoly was no longer the only game in town and that it should start talking with its customers.

“What business without the cocoon of a monopoly could afford to treat its business partners, i.e. its customers, with such disdain as to not be prepared to give information about its plans for more frequent price increases?” he said.
He made the point that the price rises come as Vodafone moves to an e-mail statement system from October 1 for its four million customers and there are plans for many more high-volume generators to do likewise within a short time.
“The move to e-transactions is one talked about for a long time now but latterly hastened by the carbon emission marketplace realities,” he said.