PostNord AB is a private company and has been for some years, so the idea that this is a government service being withdrawn is untrue.
Danish law requires everyone to have access to postal services for letters. Therefore another private company, DAO, will provide postal delivery to everyone in Denmark and the ability for everyone in Denmark to send letters from DAO service points (in shops, etc).
A significant subsidy is being provided to DAO to enable a universal delivery service.
DAO will be the national postal service for international treaty (UPU) purposes, enabling letter and small parcel post between Denmark and other countries according to UPU agreements.
In my experience the Danish postal service for correct delivery of letters has been subpar in relation to American postal service (of course my American experience is from decades ago).
Whoa, I sent a postcard to a Danish colleague last year! Does this mean I can't do that again in the future? Would this private company deliver personal correspondence originating from abroad?
Edit: I asked an LLM, which told me that we can still send letters to Denmark from abroad, but that Danes themselves will have to go to the new private contractor to send outgoing mail (instead of using their postal service). The private contractor will apparently still do regular residential and business delivery, including for mail that originates outside of Denmark.
I hope the charges are on the sending part, if I would have to sign up to receive letters I see some issues..
And yeah, elderly and digitalization is not always working well. Where I live the average age is ~80, and people need assistance to use the laundry machine.
The booking system for the public facilities such as laundry services is a piece of paper.
Ah yes, fake news.
Just because a private company is running the mail service, doesn't mean letter delivery is being discontinued. Letter delivery is subsidized by the government.
PostNord AB is a private company and has been for some years, so the idea that this is a government service being withdrawn is untrue.
Danish law requires everyone to have access to postal services for letters. Therefore another private company, DAO, will provide postal delivery to everyone in Denmark and the ability for everyone in Denmark to send letters from DAO service points (in shops, etc).
A significant subsidy is being provided to DAO to enable a universal delivery service.
DAO will be the national postal service for international treaty (UPU) purposes, enabling letter and small parcel post between Denmark and other countries according to UPU agreements.
It's legally structured as a private company, but it's really not. It's 60% owned by the Swedish state and 40% by the Danish state.
I wouldn't be surprised to see all of us deeply fetishizing the analog experience in the coming years.
Activities like letter writing might get gentrified, with private businesses charging a premium for delivery.
This is already happening with cassette tapes and Walkman (is the plural of Walkman Walkmen or Walkmans?)
I'd say its "Walkmany"
It's no longer the state-owned post office that delivers it, that's all. It's not like Denmark all of a sudden stops with physical letters...
Yep. It's yet another case of "journalism" where the facts contradict the headline, and they only 'fess up in the final lines of the story:
> Danes can still send a love letter or a Christmas card in 2026, but only through a private company.
> They must either drop it at a shop, or pay extra to have it collected from home, which is available online or via an app.
> By law, Danes must always be able to send a letter. If a private company stops delivering them, the government must step in with a new provider.
Local news in English version of article, doesn't really say anything new though: https://www.thelocal.dk/20251230/postnord-to-deliver-last-ev...
In my experience the Danish postal service for correct delivery of letters has been subpar in relation to American postal service (of course my American experience is from decades ago).
Whoa, I sent a postcard to a Danish colleague last year! Does this mean I can't do that again in the future? Would this private company deliver personal correspondence originating from abroad?
Edit: I asked an LLM, which told me that we can still send letters to Denmark from abroad, but that Danes themselves will have to go to the new private contractor to send outgoing mail (instead of using their postal service). The private contractor will apparently still do regular residential and business delivery, including for mail that originates outside of Denmark.
I hope the charges are on the sending part, if I would have to sign up to receive letters I see some issues..
And yeah, elderly and digitalization is not always working well. Where I live the average age is ~80, and people need assistance to use the laundry machine.
The booking system for the public facilities such as laundry services is a piece of paper.
Ah yes, fake news. Just because a private company is running the mail service, doesn't mean letter delivery is being discontinued. Letter delivery is subsidized by the government.
How much does a private company need to pay to achieve this goal in the different countries around the world?
Honestly the post office was probably very happy to get this off their hands. They have much better margins on packages.