E-Stamp Trials Internet Postage in Europe

[London, ENGLAND] Internet postage pioneer
E-Stamp Corporation announced
Wednesday the introduction of its service to Europe with a
trial in the Netherlands.

California-based E-Stamp has linked up with Dutch postal
service PTT Post for
a joint trial to bring its Internet postage system to
around 100 businesses and 25 private users.

“By working with E-Stamp, we’re able to bring our customers
the latest innovation in postal franking technology while
streamlining and improving the way in which they process
and send their letters and packages,” said Freddy de Slachmuylder,
vice president of sales and marketing at PTT Post.

The trial, which will run for a three-month period, will
enable customers to send letters and small parcels within
the Netherlands using Internet postage. Customers will
pay for the postage online, download it to their PCs,
and then print it onto envelopes using a standard
laser or inkjet printer.

Robert Ewald, president and chief executive of E-Stamp
Corporation, said the PTT Post trial continued E-Stamp’s
momentum in leveraging its secure platform across a variety
of applications and geographies.

Two weeks ago, E-Stamp announced an airline ticketing
operation in conjunction with Swiss Air Group company
Atraxis and Germany’s LTU International Airways.

“We’re actively identifying opportunities to license our
proprietary technology as well as to bring our solution
to new markets through partnerships and joint ventures,”
said Ewald.

Why the Netherlands? E-Stamp says it is a prime location
to introduce online postage on account of its high percentage
of Internet users and large population of small businesses.

According to a March 1999 report from International Data
Corporation (IDC), Western Europe as a whole has three
times as many small businesses as the U.S. — nearly 25
million firms with fewer than 100 employees.

E-Stamp’s Netherlands experiment follows a successful trial
with the Canada Post Corporation, in Calgary, Alberta,
earlier this year.