Australia Post is hoping that you would; it’s all primed for a major push into the telecommunications market as part of a shift away from those old-fashioned paper things that people used to send each other. I think I remember those… just.
CommsDay reports on the push, which will be spearheaded by Maha Krishnapillai, the soon-to-be-ex head of government and corporate affairs at Optus. Krishnapillai will be in charge of a three-tier strategy encompassing e-commerce (Australia post does send a lot of parcels for eBay users, after all), financial services and a broader, possibly NBN-backed telecommunications push.
I can’t think of the last time I posted an actual letter, but I do use my local Australia Post outlet for a lot of related services, so this could be a very smart move on its part indeed. Then again, I think I’d be a little stunned the first time I powered up a phone and had “Australia Post” listed as the connected network. [Commsday]
Image: Australia Post
Sam D
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 3:36 PMThis cracks me up as Australia Post came about when Post Master General split apart and the other half being Telecom (now Telstra).
HR
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 5:28 PMYeah I was thinking the same thing.
smurfydog
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 11:43 PMSame here!
HTS
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:47 PMSame here
Nozlaf
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:25 PMfunny how Gizmodo didnt know that…
Aard Vark
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 3:44 PMWhy not? NZ Post has its own bank.
HTS
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:51 PMMmmm, does NZ Post lose your mail all the time – even if its registered, or break your packages on the way, and just generally provide a sh3ty service? If a Aus Post cannot provide postal service, I dont think I will trust them on anything else…
Nick
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 3:50 PMMobile provider: Maybe depends on what network they use.
Home provider: Depends on the plans on offer.
To sum up: Maybe.
Joe Magic
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 3:54 PMGreat idea Aus Post!!! ISP, VOIP provider as well would be fantastic.
So to answer your question Alex – YES
KRS1
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 4:09 PMHells no!! IF they can make an “express post” next day parcel take 5 days to arrive, I bet they can slow the NBN down to 14.4kbps!! (But charge the same)
Scoon
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 10:25 PM+1 – their service is so shoddy currently I have 0 confidence that they will not screw up a new product line.
Evan
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:13 AMDid any of you note that Express Post guarantees next day delivery only to capital cities? If you are sening Express Post to other locations then longer delivery times are your problem, not Australia Posts’. This caveat is clearly marked on Express Post envelopes and satchels.
Further to the above, Australia Post has had for a very long time the best, or near the best, delivery speed and reliability on the planet. They handle spectacular numbers of items in record time it is however inevitable that a few items will get bogged down somewhere. These are usually the result of poor addressing or customers using the wrong service type.
Look to yourselves before you blame someone else. You may be innocent but then again you may not be.
Scoon
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:58 PMWho’s talking about express post? I said their SERVICE sucks. Read, then reply.
InformedGamer
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:43 PMThe comment you originally replied to was talking about Express Post.
Seems your “service” is pretty shoddy too…
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 5:15 PM” best, or near the best, delivery speed and reliability on the planet ”
Which planet are you on?
I’d love to know. Seriously.
Express post is the only way I can get mail within a reasonable timeframe.
It costs more, so it damned well should arrive on time.
Regular mail very VERY often takes 5 or 6 business days to get to me from Sydney to Brisbane, and even then I’ll have to take time off work to go down to the post office to collect it because the mailman can’t be ar$ed getting off of his moped to actually put it in our mailbox.
I’m one suburb out from the CBD so no excuses.
I wouldn’t rely on ANY service from Aust Post myself, but that’s just my experience.
They can’t get their primary business running right. How on earth do they think they’ll go in a different one.?
Sicarius123
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:16 PMI frequently get EMS from other countries that ends up in Australia Posts system from order to door quicker than you appear to get parcels in Australia and happily pick them up at my post office.
I’m honestly not sure how the majority of your express post can take 5 days if my orders from the US and Japan come quicker than that?
Just This Guy ...
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 4:48 PMRe read what I said.
” Express post is the only way I can get mail within a reasonable timeframe. ”
I was referring to the regular postal service that is hopelessly unreliable.
Lithgowlights
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 4:47 PMGreat, they can lose my parcels AND Internet packets in one go.
Cam
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 5:12 PMOn the flip side, at least vodafone and optus dont offer postage services. On vodapost 75% of all parcels would be dropped and broken, and 10% of the remaining parcels would timeout and be returned to the sender, whilst poptus would be good and cheap, but take 30% longer than the governement run service. Whilst every household would pay to have a telstra supplied letterbox, the only people who would use them are people who also have their telegram and courier services through them in order to obtain a bundled discount, and ultimately, a half decent price.
Ozoneocean
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 5:57 PMBrilliantly summed up! :)
Floyd
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 5:46 PMAustralia Post should be expected to do very well out of its postal service alone over the coming years, what with the rise in online shopping. What prompted this foray into a new market anyway? I suppose if “Red Bull” can do it, so can Australia Post….
aj
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 6:26 PMi’d rather they have a service that takes my emails and sends them via snail mail
daryl
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 6:41 PMMaybe Telstra can deliver the mail?
Womp
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 7:10 PMIf like me you rent a mailbox from Australia Post and are tired of paying for the privilege of collecting junk mail here is a quick tip for you: rip the junk mail into as small a pieces as you can be bothered, then holding it in your fist reach to the very back of your mailbox where you will find a small gap between your box and the door they open to put your mail into your box, release the ripped junk mail into that gap. Repeat until they stop putting junk mail in your box.
If Australia Posts phone and internet offerings are anything like their current mailbox renting services expect spam emails, texts and faxes, and do NOT expect from Australia Post any help in stopping them, because they will most likely be the ones sending them to you.
M0les
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 8:35 PMWhy do you ask, could they be any worse than Telstra?
Dave
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 9:27 PMDear God NO! If the service will be anything like their parcel delivery, it will be missing, late, damaged, and when they do eventually deliver it the delivery person will just swear at you and abuse you. That has been my experience of Australia post lately.
Timmahh
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:18 AMThis makes good sense, they could take on the Gov free email addresses and such. Not to mention giving people an easier and alternative way to stay in touch.
Ed
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:59 AMIf they offer competetive prices there is no reason not to. That’s the beauty of NBN, anyone can become and ISP.
Evolution
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:00 PMHELL NO, they can’t even get my mail here on time.
Big Mac
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:22 PMThey have a great distribution network. People in areas where there are less bank branches already do their banking there. Their stationery store is already competitive and sells high turnover tech gear.
I think the lost parcels comments are grossly over-represented.
This could be a boon – especially for regional and rural areas where Australia Post has a physical presence and no-one else does.
GeekeEvangelist
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 1:17 PM@daryl – Maybe Telstra can deliver the mail? Love It!
How great would it be if you could get WiFi Access from any Australia Post mailbox. A great use of existing property, and excellent for the city.
Reminds me of a concept Telstra put forward some years back, about offering WiFi via their phone boxes.
As with all great ideas, they never happen.