Ahmed Fahour, managing director, Australia Post says, “This $2bn investment in modernising our parcels and retail network and the launch of our new digital channel, the Australia Post Digital Mailbox are aimed at future-proofing our business and underpinning our ability to deliver the services Australian’s want, need and can afford into the future.”

The country’s postal service posted a $281m profit in its annual financial results, Fahour says, “We recognise that the demand for physical mail services will continue to decrease and while our parcel business is growing, increased competition and the fixed costs associated with maintaining our national mail network will challenge our ability to continue to grow and invest in the future.”

He says “This is the single largest investment in the network in Australia Post’s more than 200 year history and will expand the capacity of our parcels network. This investment will provide the infrastructure and delivery options to ensure Australian businesses and consumers can reap the benefits of the digital economy.”

“Just as the traditional letterbox has been a vital part people’s communications for the past two hundred years, we think the Australia Post Digital MailBox will become an integral part of everyday life.”

Digital Mailbox will compete directly against Digital Post Australia, which is co-owned by Computershare, Zumbox and Fujifilm, which is in there by dint of its recent $375m purchase of Salmat’s BPO.

In the somewhat tangled web of a postal market Computershare and Fujifilm are also two of Australia Post’s biggest customers, but Australian Post is also setting up its own transactional print business to compete against its customers, buying two Oce ColorStream high speed inkjet printers to do so.

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