Competition

The UK's mail market was fully liberalised – that is, opened up for competition - on 1 January 2006. This means Royal Mail no longer enjoys the statutory monopoly it held for 350 years. New operators licensed by Postcomm can now collect and deliver any mail, from any customer.

We believe that effective, sustainable competition will have been achieved if there is:

• a range of credible choices for customers;
• a "level playing field” for competitors, with all key barriers to entry removed;
• no abuse of market power by Royal Mail;
• real (not just threatened) competition that helps drive efficiency, cost-reflective pricing and innovation in products and processes;
• competition that is based on credible, long-term business propositions.