German postal service to deliver electronic letters

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Bonn,Germany - Deutsche Post, the German postal service, plans to begin delivering letters electronically next year but has not yet fixed the price of the online "postage," chief executive Frank Appel said Wednesday in Bonn. Unlike regular e-mails, the messages will be encrypted and Deutsche Post will keep a legal record of sending and delivery. Government agencies, insurers and companies often need to prove that they have sent notices to people.

"Private people too could for example use this to send confidential correspondence to their doctor or bank," said Appel.

News reports say Deutsche Telekom, the German phone company, is planning a rival service.

Appel said he was sure Germans would prefer Post and the price per mail would not be the most important issue.

"Our customers rightly trust us that we don't open their mail, and it will be the same with online letters," he told the German Press Agency dpa.

Senders will have to register in person at a post office to create an outbox. Deutsche Post, a stockmarket-listed company which also owns the DHL parcels service, will issue a combination of letters and numbers as a receipt for each e-mail. The company says it will not carry any spam.