Determining The Costs For The Postal Service Provides In The Universal Area

This paper analyzes the issue of determining the cost of providing universal postal service in the reserved area. The presented methodology facilitates the observation of selected policy, i.e. the strategy for the universal postal service, and also the qualification of its success. The aim of the paper is to determine the methodology for proper determination of costs for the provider of the universal postal service as it is the key determinant for the survival in the liberalized postal market. If the current provider of the universal postal service is overprotected by the monopoly, then the competition will not develop sufficiently nor will the convergence to the optimal price and quality of service provided. On the other hand, if the regulatory regime is insufficient, there will be intense competitive activity only in certain areas of the postal market, while other areas (rural areas) will rely on the current provider of the universal postal service. Thus, the provider will probably generate losses or bear an unfair burden of defective regulation by providing services in the unattractive areas. The regulation of access to the reserved area and to the postal market should completely be designed according to the social structure of postal service users and according to the growing demands of modern users of traditional and modern postal products and services. Based on the results achieved in this paper, further research should in more detail analyze the interdependence between the intensity of the regulatory regime and the point of entry (access) to the reserved area of the new postal service provider. The purpose of such a research would be a precise dimensioning of the entry of new service provider in the regulated reserved area while taking into account the social sensitivity of postal service users.