The Defense Department may outsource its mail operations, the newspaper Federal Times reported.

The Defense Business Board, an adviser to the secretary of defense, has recommended outsourcing to save money, improve service and free more than 4,000 military personnel for war-fighting.

The troops, along with several hundred civilian employees and contractors, handle DOD mail.

The newspaper said Pitney Bowes and FedEx indicated they would be interested in a potential billion-dollar contract. Industry groups said the U.S. Postal Service would not be able to match private-sector costs.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation councils have withdrawn a proposed rule governing share-in-savings contracts because Congress did not reauthorize their use.

Congress authorized a pilot program in 2002, but a rule implementing the program was never issued and the authorization expired last year.

SBA’s Office of Advocacy urged the Federal Communications Commission to limit the burden of new “do not fax” rules on small businesses.

The FCC is developing regulations to control junk faxes. Congress passed legislation that allows companies with an established business relationship with a recipient to send faxes without getting written permission.

The FCC’s proposed rule says the business relationship exists for 18 months following a transaction and three months after an inquiry. The Office of Advocacy says this would impose an excessive paperwork burden because small firms would have to keep track of all customer inquiries.

The proposed rule would also require a fax sender to provide a toll-free number or other cost-free mechanism for recipients to opt out of getting faxes. Advocacy urged that businesses with 100 employers or fewer should be exempt from this requirement or should be permitted to use alternatives to toll-free numbers such as e-mail.