BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Magazine publishers are demanding more reliable delivery of their magazines from Deutsche Post. The federal managing director of the Media Association of the Free Press (MVFP), Stephan Scherzer, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur: "More than 90 percent of the magazines' subscription circulation relies on the postal service." He added that the postal service should not shirk its responsibility precisely because it has a quasi-monopoly position due to a lack of competition. "The quality in delivery is always a big problem, it must continue to improve and the subscriptions must arrive in households on time."

Scherzer also urged, "We need to continue to have all business days as delivery days." In the spring, he said, the Postal Service, which is currently engaged in a wage dispute with warning strikes, will ring in the next round of price increases. "Price increases like in the past years do not fit into this crisis year - the Post must show moderation as a quasi-monopolist," Scherzer said./rin/DP/stk