Am an irregular reader, so apologies if the info below is...

Am an irregular reader, so apologies if the info below is general knowledge already.

* Competitiion for digital Post concept. May work in our fabour. Make AP go faster. AP already have the locations.

* Esp good for confidential mail. Had not really thought about this until posts a month or so ago. Not only parcels etc

* Pitney Bowes chosen as partner. Unsure if this was already known.

Good to see on smh, anyway.

Have a good day

KMS



http://www.smh.com.au/business/only-one-winner-in-mailbox-race-20120404-1wda1.html



A fascinating race has begun between the Australia Post group and a joint venture between the listed share registry manager Computershare (40 per cent), Salmat (40 per cent), and a US digital mail technology start-up, Zumbox.

Last month they both announced their intention to launch a digital mailbox for all Australians that will function as a one-stop digital manager for confidential communication and transactions.

It's an intriguing business idea, and might be a category killer worth billions of dollars. But there's probably only going to one winner in a market as small as Australia's, and after Australia Post's announcement overnight that the listed US group Pitney Bowes will be its digital mail technology partner, the battle lines have been drawn.

Advertisement: Story continues below The concept of the digital mailbox is pretty simple. Instead of having an array of sites to visit and a list of passwords and codes to remember, consumers can have a single log on that accesses a new online mailbox. It can collect the same material coming to them in a steady stream of emails and envelopes with windows.

Mailboxes provided by both groups will be encrypted, keeping information inside them confidential, and keeping spam and hackers out - in theory, at least. They will be accessible on smartphones, iPads and desktop computers, and will operate basically as specialist personal data assistants, organising and archiving the torrent of bills, payments and receipts that are part of everyday life, and also arranging future payments.

Consumers will be able to get the mailboxes for free. Revenue and profits are to be collected on the other side of the network, as fees are paid by businesses who want to access digital mailbox owners, with the mailbox owners' permission.

The business plan of both groups assumes two, related things. First, that consumers will take on the new system if it is given away, and proves to be a more secure and simple way of dealing with banks, utilities and other businesses. Second, that companies and governments will move in large numbers to adopt a new system that is more expensive than email but much cheaper than snail mail.

There is a sort of circular critical mass equation involved in this, because the networks will not reach critical mass until companies and consumers both join it. Early momentum is going to be absolutely crucial, and the two groups each have strengths and weaknesses.

Speed to market, pricing and marketing will be important, and those skills have not been the strengths of Australia Post in the past. The government-owned group has tended to see itself as a cost-plus supplier of services, for example. It may need to consider loss-leading to build early market share in this battle.

Like the pre-privatisation monopoly telco Telecom, Australia Post has also in the past placed more emphasis on getting a service set up perfectly than on getting it into the market quickly. Speed of delivery is going to be pivotal in this fight, and Australia Post's ability to react and adapt will be a test of the cultural change that is being delivered by its chief executive, Ahmed Fahour, the former Australian boss of NAB who took the top job in early 2010.

Reputation, brand recognition and trust are also going to be crucial factors during the ramp-up of the services, however. And on that score you would have to say the 200-year-old Australia Post has the early edge. It's one reason that Fahour instructed Australia Post's lawyers to go to the Federal Court yesterday to seek an injunction preventing the joint venture from using the name Digital Post Australia.

Judge John Middleton turned down the request, which was logical, given that neither group is actually operating a service yet. Both say they will be up and running in the second half of this year. Australia Post's claim that the joint venture business name is misleading and likely to be confused with Australia Post itself will, however, be heard by the court next month.

This battle is part of a war that start-ups such as the Computershare joint venture are waging against media incumbents right across the internet.

Australia Post's personal letter delivery service has been pretty much wiped out by the internet and the personal communications alternatives it spawned, including email, mobile phone texting and social media platforms.

Internet alternatives have not as thoroughly taken over the physical delivery of bills, receipts, and other transaction-oriented communications, however, and they made up the bulk of the five billion items of mail that Australia Post delivered in the year to June 2011.

It was the package and parcel delivery services that Fahour has been expanding which boosted Australia Post's pre-tax earnings from $253 million to $332 million in 2010-11, however. The letters delivery business lost $91 million - and with digital mailboxes, Fahour is looking to transfer the letters business to a new, lower-cost, more profitable base.

The US technology partner that Fahour has chosen, Pitney Bowes, has been on a similar journey. It has a market capitalisation of $3.5 billion and developed technology platforms including the Volly digital mail system that Australia Post will deploy after starting out in the early 20th century as a manufacturer of postal stamping machines.

Fahour will be hoping his company's transition is as successful



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/only-one-winner-in-mailbox-race-20120404-1wda1.html#ixzz1r6iQmXqO