Data quality news

Making sense of PAF licensing

An overhaul of the Royal Mail's Postcode Address File licensing is on the cards, and not before time, says Experian QAS Global Managing Director, Jonathan Hulford-Funnell.

In March, the Universal Postal Union's Consultative Committee met to discuss the role of addresses in the growth of the global economy. There was a lively debate around the fact that accurate address information must be available from postal operators for countries to actively participate in the market economy.

For the emerging nations, there is a mountain to climb, as they begin to build an address file that can be used in the first instance, to organise the delivery of mail. Countries such as South Africa seem progressive, and are keen to draw on the experience and learnings of other more developed systems as part of their journey.

Unclear licensing

At the opposite end of the spectrum sits the UK. The issue for the UK is not how to build an effective file, but how to manage its spiralling usage and unclear licensing. Most people will be aware of the process that the Royal Mail is going through to bring the Postcode Address File (PAF) licence into the 21st Century. The old licence was created over 10 years ago and, since that point, technology and business models have changed dramatically, especially with the birth of the internet and e-commerce. PAF also now supports much more than postal deliveries, playing a crucial part in everything from identity verification to GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping and customer management.

There is no question that an overhaul of the licence is necessary. But the magnitude of the task can't be underestimated. It is common knowledge that the licence will have additional liabilities for heavier users of the file, and that those who use it less will pay less. However, to get to this point, the Royal Mail must fully understand how organisations are using PAF which, in turn, requires understanding and categorisation of complex business models.

One of the initial challenges that the Royal Mail faced was building a licence that incorporates franchises, corporate licensing and subsidiary models. Over the past year, other considerations have emerged, such as bureau, public sector usage and broker networks. The Royal Mail has been in heavy consultation with the PAF Advisory Board, value-added resellers and users of PAF, to work through these scenarios.

Individual circumstances

As a result of these delays, the new licence is now likely to be issued in January 2010. Organisations that are concerned about the proposed changes, and their financial implications, should use this opportunity to liaise with either the Royal Mail or their value-added reseller, to make sure their individual circumstances are understood and catered for.

While we work through the obstacles that a new licensing model presents, we must be aware that we are being watched by the world. What is important is that we emerge through this process with a commercially sound licence, encouraging widespread use of PAF and allowing the UK to lead the globe in its approach to contact data management.

Do you have a question about your QAS software and licensing? Ask the expert.

You can also read about PAF licensing changes on the Data Strategy website.