Reforming the Postal Universal Service

The postal sector has dramatically changed in the recent years with the ongoing liberalization process and the increased competitive pressures from alternative communication channels (e-substitution). These two effects concur to decrease the mail volume handled by the historical operator which in turn may threaten the financial viability of the universal service and may call for a reform of the universal service. This paper examines the question of reforming the postal universal service, first by considering that the universal service remains confined in the postal word and, latter, by defining a universal service that includes postal and electronic technologies.