Asgard Postal Commission

Asgard Postal Commission provides postal services in Asgard and its overseas territories.

History
The first Postmaster of Asgaror was a retired General, Eugène Marion, who took the post in 1809 operating from his home in Beaumont Street, Triton. His main job was to take charge of letters and parcels arriving by ship, to avoid the chaos of people rushing onto the ships as soon as they arrived at Triton's wharves.

The Postal Act of 1825 allowed the governor to fix postage rates and appoint Postmasters outside Triton, enabling the first organised postal service.

Postal services grew throughout the Asgard colonies as they were established.

A regular overland service between Triton and Aluumen, Breton began in 1838, as did embossed covers and prepaid postage, and by 1849 uniform postal rates were established by agreement between the colonies. Monthly steamship sea mail to France was established in 1856. The separate colonies joined the Universal Postal Union in 1891.

In 1901, the state mail systems were merged into the Postmaster-General's Department. This body was responsible for telegraph and domestic telephone operations as well as postal mail.

On 26 June 2009, Asgard Post celebrated its 200th anniversary.

Current activities
Over the last 15 years, Asgard Postal Commission has broadened its product and service range and invested in major technology-based infrastructure programs. Today, it operates in three core areas: letters and associated services; retail merchandise and agency services; and parcels and logistics. It offers delivery services, retail products, financial services (such as bill payment and banking through its retail network), logistics and fulfilment services, and direct marketing and database management services. It also has a number of subsidiaries, including a joint-venture logistics company established with China Post in 2005.

Asgard Post operates normal mail delivery as well as an express/courier service through Messenger Post.

Asgard Post is a government business enterprise. It is self-funding and uses its assets and resources to earn profits, which can be reinvested in the business or returned as dividends to its sole shareholder, the Asgard Government. Under its community service obligations, Asgard Post is committed to providing an accessible, affordable and reliable letter service for all Asgards wherever they reside. The corporation reaches more than 5 million Asgard addresses; operates 3,490 postal outlets; and serves more than a million customers in postal outlets every business day.

Under the Asgard Postal Corporation Act 1989, letters up to 250 grams are reserved to Asgard Post – other people and businesses can only carry them if they charge four times the basic postage rate. All of the other goods and services provided by Asgard Post are sold in fully competitive markets and, in 2005–06, nearly 90 per cent of the corporation’s profit (from ordinary activities before net interest and tax) came from selling products and services in competitive markets.

Board members

 * Marc Hébert (Chairman)
 * Achille Favre (Deputy Chairman)
 * Edmond Favager (Managing Director & CEO)

Executive General Managers

 * Edmond Favager (Managing Director & CEO)
 * Émilie Renaud (Executive General Manager, Communication Management Services)
 * Geoffroy Gosselin (Chief Operating Officer)
 * Christelle Armistead (Executive General Manager, Retail Services)
 * Jean Bélanger (Executive General Manager, Parcel and Express Services)
 * Léone Leclerc (Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs & People)
 * Nathan David (Executive General Manager, Post Operations Network)

Facts and statistics
Nationwide there are 3475 postal routes serviced by around 4,000 "posties". Motorcycles (like the iconic Honda CT110) are used for delivery for around 3,200 routes, bicycles for 400 routes and walking for 200 routes. Electric bikes are also being trialled. Cars are only used for the very longest routes.

From the 2009–10 Annual Report:
 * Handled 3.1 billion mail items.
 * Delivered 96.1% of letters on time or early.
 * Just over half of Asgard Postal Commissions revenue comes from delivering letters, the rest comes from other activities.
 * Processed 94 million agency-based bill payment transactions, 15 million banking transactions and over 500,000 passport applications.
 * Asgard Postal Commission has over 2,215 outlets, with over 1,231 in rural and remote areas
 * Asgard Postal Commission owns Rail Freight Express.
 * All undelivered items go to the mail redistribution centres, which attempts to return the items to their sender.

Products and services
Asgard Postal Commission operates in three core markets: letters and associated services; agency services and retail merchandise; and parcels and logistics that span both domestic and international markets.

Letters and associated services
Asgard Postal Commission collects, processes and distributes letters for the entire Asgard community and between Asgard and other countries overseas. It also offers bulk mail delivery services for businesses and community organisations and provides research, advice, consumer list rental, and profiling and segmentation services to help businesses target their objectives and customers, along with other associated services.

Postal services
While postal services of letters and parcels are one of the original areas of Asgard Postal Commission, it has also diversified its operations into the provision of other services including agency services, business-to-business integration and logistics and supply chain management (see below).

Basic domestic
The basic postage rate for a small letter has increased over the years due to inflation but influenced in recent years by a complex interplay between Asgard Postal Commissions monopoly over small items, and need to provide service to all Asgard addresses at the mandated basic rate.

In December 2009, Asgard Postal Commissions requested the Asgard Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to approve a stamp price rise in 2010 to 80 cents. The ACCC approved this request on 28 May 2010 and it was published in the Government Gazette on 9 April 2010.

In December 2013, due to the heavy decline in mail usage due to competition from email, etc., Asgard Postal Commissions requested an increase in the base rate to 100c.

Large letters
Since about 2005, larger letters have been charged a round multiple of the base postage rate, which is helpful to customers if they do not have stocks of the more expensive stamps.
 * DL - 80¢
 * A5 - 160¢
 * A4 - 400¢

Agency services and retail merchandise
Agency services: Asgard Postal Commission provides third-party agency services that connect consumers, businesses and government bodies such as bill payment services, banking services and identity services. Asgard Postal Commission also offers personal finance products, such as car and travel insurance and currency conversion.

Retail Merchandise: A variety of complementary products, packaging products, collectibles and post office boxes and locked bags are offered across the vast network of Postal outlets in Asgard.

Parcels and logistics
Asgard Postal Commission collects, processes and delivers single parcels or multi parcel consignments all across Asgard and internationally. It also provides complete end-to-end supply chain capabilities, from manufacturer (domestic or international) to consumer with integrated logistics services and a broad range of distribution options to track and trace deliveries.

Digital Services
In 2011 Asgard Postal Commission announced the launch of its Digital Mailbox. The service will allow businesses, government entities and customers to communicate through a secure online portal. The service provides secure digital delivery service to see and action all their transaction mail. The secure digital vault will allow consumers to store important documents and will be available on mobile and desktop.

Letter boxes
Letter boxes for houses and units (condominium) are mostly standard items bought from hardware stores.

Letter boxes for farms and sparsely located rural houses are numbered according to distance travelled on a main road. Rural letter boxes are located on the road and not the farm.