The number of objects sent via postal services operating in competition totalled 72 million in the third quarter of 2006, standing for 25.5% of all postal traffic. This figure is a 6.1% decrease compared to the previous quarter and a 24.3% increase when compared to a year before. This increase is largely due to the new phase of liberalisation of the postal sector that was launched on 1 January of the previous year.
During this quarter, more than 66 million postal objects were sent to the national territory, while outgoing international items recorded around 6 million objects. National traffic stands for 92% of all postal traffic operated in competition and outgoing international traffic, 8%.
National traffic had a quarterly decrease of 6.7%, while international traffic grew around 1%.
In the liberalized area, Grupo CTTwas responsible for about 95% of national traffic and 93% of international traffic.
During this quarter, and of the around 72 million items that were sent through postal services operated in competition, about four million fell into the express mail category and more than 68 million into other categories. Express mail thus stood for 5% of all postal traffic operated in competition, while other categories accounted for the remaining 95%. During this quarter, the traffic of non-express mail services fell by 5.4%, while express mail services recorded a 17.1% decrease.
For services not covered by the express mail category, this traffic decrease was mainly influenced by Grupo CTT's companies. The decrease in the national traffic of packages by Grupo CTTwas the main cause of the quarterly decrease in the express mail services. It should be noted that already in the third quarter of the previous year a similar drop had been recorded in the traffic of national packages distributed by the express service.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, traffic of express mail services decreased about 3% while the traffic of services not covered by that category increased 26%. This evolution of the services not covered by the express mail category was mainly influenced by Grupo CTT's companies, and particularly by the increase in the distribution of addressed mail and advertising. This data reflects the effects of the reduction in the concessionaire's reserved area.
Regarding the companies' competitive position, at the end of the third quarter the companies of Grupo CTTheld a 39.5% share of express mail traffic (7.9 per cent less than in the previous quarter) and a 98% share of the traffic of services not covered by the express mail category.
At the end of the 3rd quarter there were 17,669 people working in the operation of liberalized postal services, 114 more than in the previous quarter.
Consult:
- Postal services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=277884
