ANACOM has released its latest report on the network of postal establishments belonging to CTT - Correios de Portugal, S.A. (CTT), the universal postal service concessionaire, and to other undertakings providing CTT concession services as at the end of 2012.
According to the report, there were 2562 postal establishments in operation as at the end of 2012, 1 more than at the end of 2011. Of this total, 740 establishments were permanent post offices, 34 fewer than at the end of 2011, and 8 were mobile post offices, while 1,814 were postal agencies1, representing an increase of 36 agencies compared to the end of 2011. In 7 of the permanent post offices, 1 fewer than at the end of 2011, the customer service operations are contracted out in accordance with Base XXII, paragraph 1 of the Universal Postal Service Concession.
Following the 12 percent decrease reported in 2011, there was an overall stabilization in the total number of postal establishments in 2012, with the reduction in the number of post offices offset by an increase in the number of postal agencies. Accordingly, in the period being reported, there was at least one post office located in every municipality. Considering the entire network of postal establishments (post offices and postal agencies) there were two or more postal establishments located in 293 of Portugal's municipalities, as was the case at the end of 2011 (95.1 percent of all municipalities).
According to CTT, at the end of 2012, all post offices provided the full range of concession services and 37.7 percent of post offices (683 in absolute terms) did not provide the postal parcels service while providing all remaining concession services (12 fewer than at the end of 2011). This means that, according to CTT, 73.3 percent of postal establishments were providing the entire range of concession services.
Based on available data on the networks of permanent postal establishments belonging to the different universal service providers in EU Member States, with reference to 2011, it can be concluded that the situation in Portugal compares favourably with the EU average (excluding Portugal); this is the case, both in terms of postal coverage (average area covered per permanent postal establishment in km2) and in terms of the density index (average number of inhabitants per permanent postal establishment).
In Portugal, 29 percent of the network of permanent postal establishments is comprised of post offices managed by CTT. The remaining 71 percent are managed by third parties, which, according to 2011 data from the Universal Postal Union (UPU), is below the percentage reported in the Netherlands and Germany (both with 100 percent), the United Kingdom (97 percent), Ireland and Cyprus (both 98 percent), Finland (87 percent) and Sweden (84 percent).
Pursuant to the universal postal service concession, ANACOM received 82 notifications from CTT, as follows: 31 regarding the closure of post offices and their replacement by post agencies, of which 26 were managed by parish councils; 5 notifications referring to the closure of post offices; 2 on the opening of new post offices; 38 on reducing the opening hours of post offices; and 6 on extending the opening hours of post offices.
1 Postal agencies are establishments operated by third parties under contract; all such establishments provided the postal services included in the universal service (Source: CTT - letter no. 50403 of 28.03.2003).
Consult:
- Rede de estabelecimentos postais relativos aos CTT - Correios de Portugal, S.A., no final do ano de 2012 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1159056
