ComReg survey adds to misery at An Post

Communications regulator ComReg yesterday published a survey showing that businesses have become increasingly critical of An Post's service over the last year, and warned the troubled State company to get its house in order.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said the results of a survey of business and consumer attitudes to An Post revealed a number of worrying trends. The study found that, while households generally considered the service to be good, business satisfaction with the service fell across all categories over the last year.

More than 500 businesses took part in the survey, which was carried out by TNS/mrbi. ComReg released the results yesterday with its review of areas under its remit for the second quarter of the year.

One-third of businesses thought An Post's service did not offer value for money, compared with 21 per cent last year. The number that believed its service was reliable fell from 90 per cent in 2002 to 74 per cent this year.

One-in-five businesses complained to An Post about the service during the year, and 59 per cent of these felt their complaints were handled "very badly". Across all categories, An Post had a total satisfaction score of 3.6, compared with 3.9 last year.

A spokeswoman for An Post last night said that the company was concerned with the results. "We will need to examine the detail and specifics of that dissatisfaction before we can tackle it," she said.

She added that An Post was aware that some businesses were unhappy with the introduction of earlier collection times. The spokeswoman pointed out that this was part of a new programme to ensure next-day delivery.

An Post's chief executive Mr Donal Curtin last week said that the firm was facing a possible trading loss of €47 million this year, and would have to cut its 10,000-strong workforce by 1,500 people by 2005 to guarantee its future viability.

Recently, ComReg gave An Post permission to increase the cost of letter post from 41 cents to 48 cents. Yesterday, the regulator warned the company to address its inefficiencies and realise the benefits of productivity deals and investment to improve the quality of its service.

ComReg's quarterly review found that flat rate internet services attracted 6,500 new subscribers to the internet between April and June. Mobile penetration grew to 3.17 million.