Royal Mail signed an access agreement last week with Deutsche Post, providing the German postal giant with access to the United Kingdom mail group's local sorting delivery network and 27 million households.
Starting in August, Royal Mail will deliver post the last mile for Deutsche Post Global Mail, offering two-day mail delivery service to businesses mailing more than 4,000 presorted letters a day.
Deutsche Post is the third organization to negotiate an access deal. A deal between Royal Mail and TPG was sealed this month. The first such agreement for Royal Mail was reached in February, with UK Mail, a division of Business Post. The charges are identical in each deal.
Postcomm, the postal regulator, granted rival companies the right to enter the UK market in 2003. Postcomm wants to open 60 percent of the market by 2005.
