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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

#61

Post by spicyjpeg »

crazybonkersai wrote: post #50

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 o…

It is actually much worse than that. Much like banking, the push for digital government services in many countries has ended up more or less requiring every citizen to own an up-to-date, non-jailbroken iOS or Android device. If you blocked your phone from accessing Apple or Google servers (or if it's 6 years old, a dumb phone or runs GrapheneOS), the support staff will just tell you to walk to your closest Best Buy equivalent and grab the cheapest Android device you can find; in the name of "security" there often is no fallback option, and when there is one it's SMS 2FA which is (understandably) rate limited to three uses per year.

If your phone gets stolen, meanwhile, you may find yourself unable to log into the police's portal for reporting it.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#62

Post by Aeolun »

_djo_ wrote: post #57
crazybonkersai wrote: post #50

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 o…

The Dutch government has one approach to the email service issue, by having a website and app, Berichtenbox, where you can receive official communications. They're regularly extending it to include municipalities as well. However it's one-way only at the moment, there's no way to use it for two-way communication.

It also requires either a phone or computer that’s increasingly owned by private corporations. The only OS that doesn’t restrict what I can do with it is Linux.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#63

Post by Aeolun »

mkroman wrote: post #40

What I don't see mentioned here or in the article: PostNord Denmark has been operating with massive losses for a while now, in part because they were required by law to be able to deliver everywhere in Denmark, when there were very little demand for it. The money just isn't there, which is why the law has been changed. The cost of sending a letter was also just going up and up. In 2025, it cost $4.55 _per letter_.

Denmark is tiny though? Why does it cost $5 per letter?

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#64

Post by pseudalopex »

hulitu wrote: post #45
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 ?

> all official mail from authorities will become electronic by default

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#65

Post by expedition32 »

kimos wrote: post #56
dmix wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the reason the existing public corporation shut down service in Denmark > citing a 90% decline in letter mail since 2000

Canada Post is in financial crisis for similar reasons.

In the Netherlands the post office is contractually obliged to deliver mail but they are LOSING money on it.

Even the government themselves went full digital... Personally I think that if people think post services are a national priority it should be subsidised with tax money. Cannot expect a private company to burn money.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#66

Post by dmix »

expedition32 wrote: post #65
kimos wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada Post is in financial crisis for similar reasons.

In the Netherlands the post office is contractually obliged to deliver mail but they are LOSING money on it. Even the government themselves went full digital... Personally I think that if people think post services are a national priority it should be subsidised with tax money. Cannot expect a private company to burn money.

Canada Post is losing money on parcel delivery, not just regular mail. They are pretty awful as a service (for anything serious at least) and are constantly going on strike, so everyone is flocking to private competition. I've had 3 different packages end up in a purgatory in 2 different strikes and now I use Fedex instead.

Which is funny because parcel delivery has only grown over the last decade while Canada Post loses more and more money, while their union workers are demanding pay raises and job security.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#67

Post by port11 »

wolvesechoes wrote: post #59
arbirk wrote: post #16

Just to clarify. There is at least one chosen and contractually bound Mail Service provider in Denmark. Their terms are set in public tenders. The old state owned company - Post Nord - basically decide not to compete for the contract. A newer company - DAO - won the tender. What this means in legal terms: Under law: DAO must comply with its postal permit obligations (nationwide service where offered, pricing transpar…

Postal service is a public service, thus there shouldn't be any contracts, TOS or competition. Sad to see civilizational damages caused by neoliberalism, even in such countries as Denmark.

I generally agree (my post history should back my anti-neoliberalism), but I suppose eventually the postal service becomes a relic that can't operate on the same terms. At what loss should we accept a letter to be delivered? Or should they charge the real cost of delivering it?

EU governments are cutting costs everywhere, this is the end result of recession-era policies.

Of course it could also be due to mismanagement. If Amazon is allowed to subcontract its own delivery people, and somehow that's profitable, public post companies might find ways to stay relevant.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#68

Post by noAnswer »

toast0 wrote: post #41
clickety_clack wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> I don't see why you couldn't expand from parcels to letters;

If they have a state sanctioned monopoly you legally just can't.

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#69

Post by ProllyInfamous »

torcete wrote: post #51
WalterBright wrote: post #7

It's been decades since I wrote a letter and mailed it.

I can send one to you if you want :-)

My PO Box is listed in my /hn/ profile, and I respond with funny homemade postcards. I stopped using email a decade ago; quit texts right after Covid started. Yes, I have a one-way pager (digits only) that is given out to less than a dozen contacts.

Love letterwriting — have had and regularly-used my Smith Corona [typewriter] for half my life (over two decades). Its especially helpful for tax forms and legal documents (my area courts still accept non-digital when pro se).

For Christmas last year I helped my state judge brother set up his own typewriter [a very nice IBM Selectric II]. He's not much older than me, but needs it for [reasons].

Re: Danish postal service to stop delivering letters

#70

Post by wolvesechoes »

port11 wrote: post #67
wolvesechoes wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Postal service is a public service, thus there shouldn't be any contracts, TOS or competition. Sad to see civilizational damages caused by neoliberalism, even in such countries as Denmark.

I generally agree (my post history should back my anti-neoliberalism), but I suppose eventually the postal service becomes a relic that can't operate on the same terms. At what loss should we accept a letter to be delivered? Or should they charge the real cost of delivering it? EU governments are cutting costs everywhere, this is the end result of recession-era policies. Of course it could also be due to mismanagemen…

I am for postal service being reformed and handle digital communication as well.

But let's not forget that network and electricity are not given once and for all. We may end up experiencing quite long periods without them. Country that would get rid of related infra and know-how would be helpless.

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