Transport company Nippon Express Co. plans to launch a special mail delivery service, possibly this year, informed sources said Saturday.

The company has already submitted a business license application to the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, which may approve it Tuesday, the sources said.

Since April, when the government allowed private firms to handle mail delivery under certain conditions, about a dozen small and midsize courier companies, most of them engaging in the business using motorcycles, have already entered the market.

But Nippon Express would become the first major transport firm to engage in special mail delivery.

The special mail delivery service does not oblige companies to meet strict conditions such as setting up post boxes.

Nippon Express will initially limit its business area for the new service to Yokohama, though it is also eyeing nationwide services, the sources said.

The company's plan follows the Yokohama Municipal Government's introduction of competitive bidding to select a company to deliver mail between its offices, according to the sources.

Prospective bidders are required to have a business license for special mail delivery.

If the company wins the bid, it will start delivering Yokohama Municipal Government documents before the end of the year, the sources said.