On 21 March 2003, the Board of Directors of ICP-ANACOM gave approval to a set of indicators applicable to postal services operated in competition.
1. Taking into account:
• the experience accumulated since the implementation of the current statistical indicators, which makes it possible to identify the types of information which have greater relevance and the main difficulties arising in the completion of the questionnaire;
• developments which have occurred in the provision of services, both in terms of the companies present in these markets, and in terms of the existing offers;
• the new requirements and obligations for the compilation of the information which have emerged at international level, notably at the level of the European Union and the UPU;
• the need to integrate information on postal services provided in competition and information on reserved services, thereby ensuring their comparability,
ICP-ANACOM has decided replace statistical indicators of postal services operated in competition with a new form to be completed by all providers of postal services, which will include information on the reserved area.
2. In this context, a new set of statistical data has been drawn up (in annex).
At a general level, the intention is to compile indicators on traffic, financial data and on the postal network to enable assessment and comparison of the level of development and use of postal services and networks, as well as the relative positions of the providers in the liberalised area and the movement of these positions over time. This information is also requested by several international institutions for the purpose of assessing the development of the sector in several countries and in the implementation of regulatory measures.
The indicators in question are:
a) Indicators of postal traffic broken down by type of traffic (addressed correspondence or postage parcels), by destination and by reserved/liberalized area. With respect to the liberalized area these indicators are divided according to the categories of express and non-express mail.
The indicators for the service of postal correspondence and postal parcels were already part of the previous questionnaire, while the addressed correspondence service now includes both addressed publicity and editorial mail (previous separate).
It is noted that with regard to the indicators of the liberalised area, providers are now required to enter data for the traffic indicators in the express mail column or the non-express mail column, according to their legal authorisation;
b) Financial indicators.
The only financial indicator contained in this new questionnaire refers to revenues, as in the previous questionnaire. Revenues are broken down by liberalized area/reserved area, with the previous breakdown by type of object discontinued, given the difficulty of providers in obtaining data with the desired level detail.
As with the traffic indicators, revenue for the liberalized the area must be entered in the express mail column or the non-express mail column, according to the legal authorisation of each provider;
c) Postal network indicators
In addition to the postal network indicators previously compiled- human resources, distribution centres, access points and vehicles-, data is now included on the number of post office boxes, post boxes and outlets selling stamps. These indicators enable an evaluation of the development of postal networks and postal services, including coverage and density. The compilation of such indicators was imposed on ICP-ANACOM within the scope of the European Union;
d) Traffic and revenues by product of the universal postal service concessionaire.
A set of indicators has been added which are to be completed only by the concessionaire of the universal postal service, replacing the quarterly form on the activity of the conceded postal services. This is information that arises from the need to monitor activities carried out as part of the concession, as defined in the concession contract of the universal postal service.
The statistical information to be submitted by the concessionaire of the universal postal service, necessary for the supervision of the activities undertaken under the concession contract, remains unchanged;
e) In all tables a column has been added for observations of a qualitative nature.
Given that the indicators of the new questionnaire are broken down to a lesser extent than in the previous questionnaire, it is now necessary that providers explain significant variations, which are not explained by existing trends or by seasonal factors. To this end, providers should use the column for observations mentioned above.
3. Furthermore, besides the changes in the questionnaire mentioned above (discontinuation of breakdown by type of object), the heading for "other services", covering data on the "unaddressed correspondence service", has been removed. In fact, the information received by ICP-ANACOM was not representative of the entire market, given the existence of entities which provide this service without requiring a license or authorization.
4. Service providers are granted a period of 30 days to implement these indicators. The providers concerned are required to send this information regularly as of the (calendar) quarter following the quarter during which the implementation period ends.
5. Where information is not readily available, the postal service providers are required to:
a) supply estimates of the values in question, setting out the assumptions used to calculate them;
b) supply the definitive information no later than the quarter following the closure of the company's accounts for the year to which the statistics refer;
After this date, the information given for the year in question shall be considered final. Any inaccuracies detected or reported after that date may be considered failures to comply with the obligations to submit information, pursuant to current legislation.
6. The information compiled in this respect may be published by ICP-ANACOM.
7. In accordance with point i) of paragraph 1 of article 18 of Decree-Law no 150/2001 of 7 May, as amended by article 4 of Decree-Law no 116/2003 of 12 June, and point g) of paragraph 1 of Premise VIII, of Article 3 of Decree-Law no 112/2006 of 9 June, the set of indicators in annex shall be submitted to ICP-ANACOM by postal service providers no later than the thirtieth day of the month following the end of each quarter, by email to dee.stats@anacom.pt, or on paper to the following address:
ICP-ANACOM
Information and Statistics Directorate (DIE)
Av. José Malhoa, 12
1099-017 Lisbon
Any clarifications needed may also be obtained using the above contact details.
