International Post Corporation (IPC) is a cooperative association of 26 national postal services from major countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. IPC's main activities are providing assistance to its postal members, whose businesses activities include mail, parcels, express, logistics, retail and banking services.
IPC was founded in 1989 and since then its main activities have been to upgrade quality and service performance, to develop technology to help members improve service for international letters, parcels and express, and to provide industry intelligence and platforms for cooperation between posts. Its headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium. [1]
IPC members represent postal operators from Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. IPC Shareholding Members are allocated a minimum number of shares based on their total addressed mail volumes (i.e. total letter mail handled and delivered inside and outside the organisation’s home country, excluding unaddressed mail and newspapers but including magazines). All IPC members should have a universal service obligation for the provision of mail services although the Board is authorised to admit members without such an obligation. [2] IPC’s current members are:
Country | Postal organisation |
---|---|
Australia | Australia Post |
Austria | Österreichische Post |
Belgium | bpost |
Canada | Canada Post |
Croatia | Hrvatska pošta |
Cyprus | Cyprus Post |
Denmark | Post Danmark (PostNord) |
Estonia | Omniva |
Finland | Posti Group |
France | La Poste |
Germany | Deutsche Post DHL |
Great Britain (United Kingdom) | Royal Mail |
Greece | Hellenic Post |
Hungary | Magyar Posta |
Iceland | Iceland Post |
Ireland | An Post |
Italy | Poste Italiane |
Luxembourg | POST Luxembourg |
Netherlands | PostNL |
New Zealand | New Zealand Post |
Norway | Posten Norge |
Portugal | CTT–Correios de Portugal |
Spain | Correos y Telégrafos |
Sweden | Posten (PostNord) |
Switzerland | Swiss Post |
United States | United States Postal Service |
IPC is a cooperative company governed by a Board, composed of the chief executive officers from eleven IPC members plus IPC's president and chief executive. The board is chaired by Tone Wille, CEO of Posten Norge. IPC’s current CEO is Holger Winklbauer. [3]
International Post Corporation was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. IPC was founded with a double role: provide a platform to exchange intelligence between its member posts, and develop and support systems to improve international mail services through quality of service and interoperability.
IPC’s main activities include:
IPC’s core activity is to develop and provide technological solutions to support member postal operators in achieving quality of service performance requirements. These services focus on upgrading and maintaining member posts’ end-to-end performance for cross-border mail through monitoring and streamlining international mail processes.
IPC deploys a number of technology infrastructures and systems such as radio frequency identification (RFID), item monitoring and a harmonised customer service system (CSS), which provide transparency in international mail movements, provision of full operational information and data for calculating intercompany payments, detailed enquiry processing and quality of service performance results.
IPC also focuses on key areas for the postal sector like, e-commerce, intercompany pricing and sustainability. In 2009, the company launched its sector-wide sustainability programme, which aimed at reducing the carbon emissions of its participants by 20% by 2020 - a target which was attained in 2018. The company is also a signatory to the UN Global Compact. [4]
IPC’s marketing function focuses on creating intelligence on market developments and sharing best practice between posts. Through the close relation with the postal industry, IPC carries out research and gathers intelligence within the postal industry. Some the areas analysed are direct marketing, e-commerce, digital business and environmental sustainability. [5]
The IPC Cross-Border E-Commerce Shopper Survey provides a comprehensive analysis of the global trends and drivers shaping cross-border e-commerce from the perspective of online consumers. The aim is to inform postal operators of changing customer needs so that they can take informed decisions with regard to their international product portfolio and delivery service specifications.
IPC is a cooperative member organisation and as such one of its goals is to provide a framework for networking and knowledge sharing by establishing platforms. These platforms bring together senior postal executives across a range of functions and facilitate further postal operator cooperation by leading groups dedicated to developing solutions to specific cross-border market requirements.
Communications in Somalia encompasses the communications services and capacity of Somalia. Telecommunications, internet, radio, print, television and postal services in the nation are largely concentrated in the private sector. Several of the telecom firms have begun expanding their activities abroad. The federal government operates two official radio and television networks, which exist alongside a number of private and foreign stations. Print media in the country is also progressively giving way to news radio stations and online portals, as internet connectivity and access increases. In 2012, a National Communications Act was also approved by Cabinet members, and 2 October 2017, the president of Somalia Finally signed the National Communications Law, and became the official Law that regulated the ICT industry. Under that Law, National Communications Authority (NCA) of the federal Republic of Somalia has been established, with board of directors and a general manager. Somalia currently is ranked first in Africa for most affordable mobile data per gigabyte and 7th in the world.
The Universal Postal Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It comprises 192 member states and is headquartered in Bern, Switzerland.
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China Post, legally the China Post Group Corporation, is the state-owned enterprise operating the official postal service of China, which provides the service in mainland China, excluding its special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau, which have their own postal service independent of the mainland's. Postal services on island of Taiwan, which is claimed as part of China but not controlled by it, are provided by Chunghwa Post.
Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distributions Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). The company used the name Consignia for a brief period in the early 2000s.
Australia Post, formally known as the Australian Postal Corporation, is a Commonwealth government-owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is located on Bourke Street, Melbourne, above the Bourke Street Post Office.
Posti Group Oyj, trading internationally as Posti Group Corporation, is the main Finnish postal service delivering mail and parcels in Finland. The State of Finland is the sole shareholder of the company. Posti has a universal service obligation that entails weekday deliveries of letters in all of Finland's municipalities. Posti's head office is located in Pohjois-Pasila in Helsinki. Posti's history spans nearly 400 years.
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Pitney Bowes Inc. is an American technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and services, and with expansions into e-commerce, software, and other technologies. The company was founded by Arthur Pitney, who invented the first commercially available postage meter, and Walter Bowes as the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company on April 23, 1920.
Poste Italiane is the Italian postal service provider. Besides providing postal services, Italian Post Group offers communications, postal savings products, logistics, and financial and insurance services throughout Italy.
Russian Post is an Aktsionernoye Obschestvo which is the national postal operator of Russia. The company is responsible for the delivery of mail in Russia, and the issuing of postage stamps. Russian Post employs about 390,000 people and has over 42,000 post offices, with its headquarters in Moscow. In 2012 the Russian Post delivered more than 2.4 billion pieces of mail and accounted for more than 54 million parcels and more than 100 million in remittances. In March 2013 a presidential decree signed by President Vladimir Putin included the Russian Post in a list of so-called strategic enterprises.
Pos Malaysia Berhad is a postal delivery service in Malaysia, with history dating back to early 1800s.
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La Poste is a postal service company in France, operating in Metropolitan France, the five French overseas departments and regions and the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Under bilateral agreements, La Poste also has responsibility for mail services in Monaco through La Poste Monaco and in Andorra alongside the Spanish company Correos.
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LibanPost is the national post office of Lebanon. It is relatively a young postal operator, established in 1998. It is privately owned, in charge of operating the postal sector. Since its inception, LibanPost embarked on a program of rebuilding infrastructure, diversification and branding.
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