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Post Office
Post Office is one of the brands of the Royal Mail Group offering a gamut of services including financial transactions, banking, travel agency, telecoms and phonecards as well as the traditional postal mail service. It is the largest financial services and retail chain in the UK with nearly 12,500 branches.
Post Office launched its broadband services on 17 October 2007, five months after its initial announcement. The operator will deploy the service on a 'white label managed service' platform offered by BT Wholesale. Earlier, on 10 January 2005, the operator launched its HomePhone service. It had 400,000 HomePhone customers as of October 2007. As of June 2008, Point Topic's Consumer Survey indicated that Post Office had under 80,000 broadband customers.
In 2007, Post Office derived 10% of its revenues from its HomePhone service. The operator expects to increase the contribution of telecom services to its revenues to 25% by 2011 with its total customer base for phone and broadband service projected to be over one million.
Post Office offers bundled DSL and phone services at tariffs lower than the cumulative tariffs of the individual services.
Additional Services
Fixed telephony
Standalone Tariffs
Post Office Broadband Standard
R
ADSL
8000
0.00
0.00
15.95
Y
GBP
5 GB data transfer limit; 50MB of web space; basic email and anti-virus security; modem; 24 hours technical support; 5 email addresses; webmail; 12 month contract applies.
Line rental extra.
New telephone line - GBP 110
Post Office Broadband Extra
R
ADSL
8000
0.00
0.00
20.95
Y
GBP
Unlimited data transfer; 50MB of web space; PC security suite including parental controls; wireless router; 24 hours technical support; 5 email addresses; webmail; FUP and 12 month contract applies.
Line rental extra.
New telephone line - GBP 110
No "Broadband Service Level Agreement" data currently available.
Bundled Tariffs
Post Office HomePhone with Broadband Extra
Broadband, Fixed Telephony
R
ADSL
8000
0.00
0.00
25.50
Y
GBP
Free evening & weekend calls to UK landlines; Free HomePhone to HomePhone calls at any time; free weekend calls to mobiles in 20 international destinations including UK, USA and Canada; Post Office Broadband Extra service
Line rental included.
Post Office HomePhone with Broadband Standard
Broadband, Fixed Telephony
R
ADSL
8000
0.00
0.00
20.95
Y
GBP
Free evening & weekend calls; Free HomePhone to HomePhone calls at any time; free weekend calls to mobiles in 20 international destinations including UK, USA and Canada; Post Office Broadband Standard service
Line rental included.
Network Statistics
Financial Performance
Date
Total revenue
EBITDA
Net profit
ARPU
Notes
27 Mar 2005
8,956,000,000
422,000,000
151,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
25 Sep 2005
4,378,000,000
224,000,000
91,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for six months
26 Mar 2006
9,056,000,000
497,000,000
395,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
24 Sep 2006
4,439,000,000
99,000,000
13,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for six months
25 Mar 2007
9,104,000,000
392,000,000
286,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
30 Mar 2008
9,238,000,000
351,000,000
135,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
28 Sep 2008
4,648,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for six months
30 Mar 2009
9,560,000,000
-229,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
28 Sep 2009
4,575,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for six months
28 Mar 2010
9,349,000,000
-320,000,000
Figures in GBP; Group's revenue for the year
No "Geographical Coverage" data currently available.
Network Architecture & Development
Headline
Details
HomePhone launch
On 10 January 2005, Post Office launched its HomePhone landline service. It announced that it would offer a 20% discount over prevailing BT call rates to its customers.
Network
Post Office deploys its broadband service on a 'white label managed service' platform offered by BT Wholesale.
Marketing Programs
Headline
Details
New service packages
On 5 June 2007, Post Office revised its HomePhone service packages by offering free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and free calls at anytime to another HomePhone line for its telephony customers.
Reduction in line rental
On 27 July 2005, Post Office reduced the line rental prices of its HomePhone service bringing it to the lowest in the UK.
Discount offer
On 13 March 2006, announced limited time offer of GBP 50 discount on the telephone bills for customers signing for its HomePhone service before 31 March 2006.
Advertising campaign
On 24 October 2007, Post Office released an advertising campaign worth GBP 10 million featuring the Westlife band to promote its newly launched broadband services.
Marketing initiatives
With 14,300 local post office branches and over 24 million walk-in customers to these branches, Post Office aims to reach out to a wider section of people in promoting its broadband services. It is certainly one of the best-placed organisations to reach the segment of society which does not yet have access to the interrnet from home.
Directory enquiries service
On 30 January 2006, Post Office launched directory enquiries services for its HomePhone customers, claiming to provide the most competitive call rates for such enquiries in the UK.
Over the counter payment
On 24 October 2007, Post Office announced an option for customers to pay cash at Post Offices for broadband services. However, cash payment over the counter would attract a surcharge of GBP 1 per month.
Market positioning
On 24 October 2007, Post Office announced the launch of its broadband service. The new services are primarily targeted at older-generation 50-65 year olds with a high disposable income who are going online for the first time - and customers wanting to pre-pay in cash. The extensive retail network of the operator makes it feasible for it to cater to this market segment.
Price reduction
On 8 September 2008, Post Office cut the headline-price rental for its stand-alone and bundled broadband services by GBP 1 per month but at the same time withdrew the GBP 1 per month discount for paying by direct debit.
Ofcom voluntary code
5 December 2008: Post Office signed a new Ofcom voluntary code to be more transparent in its communication with the customers. As per the code, the operator is required to inform the customer the true broadband speed the customer's line can support and what factors would result in loss of speed for the customer. The code also requires the operator to explain the fair usage policy to its customers and alert them when they have been violated.
Reduction in VAT
1 December 2008: Post Office reduced the prices of its services as a result of fall in VAT from 17.50% to 15%, effective immediately.
Business Partners & Content Deals
Headline
Details
BT
On 17 May 2007, Post Office signed a four year agreement worth GBP 750 million with BT to provide wholesale communications services for the Post Office to resell to its customers. This has been the largest single contract for BT Wholesale.
Equipment Suppliers
Headline
Details
Netgear
Post Office offers Netgear DM111P modem with its broadband packages to the customers.
Company History & Development
Headline
Details
HomePhone customers
On 2 June 2005, Post Office HomePhone had 100,000 customers, within less than six months of the service launch. By October 2007 it had reached 400,000 customers.
History
The postal and telecommunications services in the UK were combined in one organisation, the General Post Office or GPO, until 1981 when they were split up to allow the privatisation of BT. The Post Office ventured back into the telecoms market again on 10 January 2005 with the launch of its HomePhone fixed telephony service. It aimed at achieving a 5% market share by reaching 1 million customers within five years.
Broadband launch announcement
On 17 May 2007, Post Office announced its plan to launch broadband services deployed on 'white label managed services' platform offered by BT Wholesale. In a deal worth GBP 750 million, the operator would be reselling BT's services on BT's platform without having to incur infrastructural development and maintenance costs and risks. The services became operational by 17 October 2007 with the launch of two broadband packages with speeds up to 8 Mbps. The operator also launched broadband bundled with its HomePhone fixed telephony service..
