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Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

theguardian.com

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Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#41

Post by toast0 »

clickety_clack wrote: post #29
xnx wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is letter/parcel delivery a natural monopoly? I think of systems with hard infrastructure that use the public way like roads, rail, and pipes.

I think the question is whether a competitor can become established. Can you run a mail delivery service if you only have local coverage? I don’t know. In the past, maybe you could use the national postal service to fill in the gaps as you scale up a delivery network, but I can’t see the established monopoly giving bulk discounts to a potential competitor. Trucks, vans, sorting facilities and workforces are very expe…

Parcel delivery is clearly not a natural monopoly; there are several carriers, including some that only have a limited footprint. I don't see why you couldn't expand from parcels to letters; although economics would probably be tough.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#42

Post by extraduder_ire »

userbinator wrote: post #8
CrossVR wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article: > Danes will still be able to send letters, using the delivery company Dao, which already delivers letters in Denmark but will expand its services from 1 January from about 30m letters in 2025 to 80m next year. But customers will instead have to go to a Dao shop to post their letters – or pay extra to have it collected from home – and pay for postage either online or via an app.

In other words they've just privatised the mail service.

It's been a private company for over a decade and a half. This is pretty common in many European countries. e.g. Germany's postal system is wholly owned by DHL.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#43

Post by BoredPositron »

usr1106 wrote: post #26
userbinator wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words they've just privatised the mail service.

But: You don't seem to aöbe able to pay the new provider in cash. You need to pay online or using an app. (I have no insights, just from reading TFA.)

They have shops.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#44

Post by bill38 »

bigfatkitten wrote: post #4

So if I’m in Denmark and I want to send my friend a piece of paper with something written on it, what happens now? I assume I have to go into the post office and send it as a parcel (at higher cost), rather than slapping a stamp on it and dropping it into the post box, but the effect is otherwise mostly the same.

In Denmark the physical post offices have been closed since a few years (cost reduction). Even stamps aren't printed anymore (you have to pay online to get a code that you print or write on the letter or parcel).

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#45

Post by hulitu »

usr1106 wrote: post #30

Slightly related: In Finland all official mail from authorities will become electronic by default starting Jan 1st, 2026. There is the possibility to opt out. I am not convinced this is a wise direction. When Putin cuts a couple of sea cables again we are not able to access official communications. Yes, even elections are stored offshore.

> When Putin cuts a couple of sea cables again we are not able to access official communications.

Do you route all your mail through other countries ?

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#46

Post by hulitu »

jmclnx wrote: post #10

So, all they did was privatize their postal service. There will still have a postal service, but run by a private company. I doubt this will end well, but Denmark is a small country so maybe it will work. After a year it would be nice to see stats and compare delivery time, lost mail, cost between Dao and the old service,

> There will still have a postal service, but run by a private company.

They shall do it like in the energy sector: one company who takes it from the sender, one to transport it and one to deluver it to the receiver. /s

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#49

Post by bingo-bongo »

jmclnx wrote: post #10

So, all they did was privatize their postal service. There will still have a postal service, but run by a private company. I doubt this will end well, but Denmark is a small country so maybe it will work. After a year it would be nice to see stats and compare delivery time, lost mail, cost between Dao and the old service,

It’s been privatized for the past 15 years or so. It’s just change of contractor.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#50

Post by crazybonkersai »

It’s striking that while many states push citizens toward digital-only public services, almost none provide a state-run email service. Instead, official communication is effectively outsourced to foreign, commercial platforms with uneven privacy records (e.g. Gmail). If governments are serious about digital sovereignty and data protection, they should operate their own email infrastructure and issue each citizen an official address, much like a social security number. Whether people actually use it or prefer a private alternative should remain a personal choice—but the state shouldn’t depend on third-party platforms as its default communication layer.
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