Postal Service

Role in a Competitive Communications Environment Gao ID: T-GGD-94-162 May 24, 1994

The risk to the Postal Service posed by competition and changing technology is very real. The Service has already lost a significant part of its business. Parcel post and overnight mail declined substantially because the Postal Service could not compete on price and service. Although growth in letter mail has more than compensated for these losses during the past 20 years and is substantially protected from competition by law, it is somewhat vulnerable to alternative forms of delivery and entirely unprotected from diversion to other technologies. This testimony focuses on the impact of emerging communication technologies on the Postal Service's ability to provide universal mail service at affordable rates. It also addresses the status of the postal automation program and the state of labor relations in the Service.



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