Internet and Postal Service

This paper critically discusses the impact of Internet and other technological media on postal service. The critical discussion is undertaken throwing light on both pros and cons of the impact. For substation of the arguments, even statistical figures are too utilised.

The foremost roles of the postal services industry are communication and the carrying of freight, and this industry as well has been found as playing a vital role in providing essential financial services, principally in far-flung areas. But these foremost roles are radically changing under the direct effect of new-fangled technological revolution in the field of communication. The advent of telecommunications, broadcasting and media has transformed the mode in which populace communicate. In this direction of development, digital technology is overriding the time-honored postal service as the fresh principal delivery platform for communications, notably shrinking the latter’s role. Communication by means of the Internet such as electronic mailing or e-mail is putting back communication through postal services. Above and beyond the benefits of speed and cost, email has the benefit of mobility, allowing populace to send and take delivery of mail globally. Through customers of the postal service more and more developing into the Internet, services provided by the post office for the point of communications are probable to take a rain check with a predictable effect on revenue. In addition, the augmentation in personal computer ownership, jointly with the development of bandwidth, is probable to upshot in financial dealings such as the payment of utility bills, being undertaken through Internet. A cut in the order for the postal service’s payment services is a real opportunity for the postal industry in the new technological environment shaped by Internet. On the other hand, the growth of electronic commerce as well has an encouraging result on the industry. For case in point, people are now purchasing commodities from online stores as a substitute of retail stores, in consequence boosting demand for the deliverance of packet and parcel mail. However, we need to take look the opportunity critically discussing the pros and cons.

The financial vertebrae of the postal industry has had for all time been the first-class letter, nevertheless, the emergence of the Internet particularly, cellphone and fax additionally has consigned the unequaled letter to utter obsolescence. The postal service industry finds itself on the edge of financial destruction for the reason that since several years postal management deliberately overlooked this communications revolution (Gregory, 2011). Notably, no quantity of tinkering with a five-day delivery service or the closing of small stations will put aside it from its self-made fate. Exclusive of the change of the postal service industry into an essential fraction of the Internet, there will be no prospect in the postal service industry and no postal service in the future as previously used to be carried physically.

Furthermore, the masterpiece of the mail has altered radically, and notably somewhat 90 percent of all mail is currently business-originated business stuff. The unique community mission of “binding the nation together” of postal industry is patently out of date whilst populace in the regions of the world may well communicate instantaneously by means of the internet, and get just catalogs and advertisements through mail. The turn down in physical mail, and the increase in low-profit advertising content, is to be expected to carry on. In more clear words, in the course of incremental reform and accounting devices are no longer adequate to stay away from a huge taxpayer-funded bailout. The time has approached for consequential reform that will look after taxpayers and produce a sustainable postal service industry. However, the newly found postal industry necessitates to be transformed into a normal business, counteracting market competition and closely controlled by vigorous and all ears shareholders. It ought to be allowed to cut its high and rigid costs, and to fiddle with the truths of a new-fangled communications market. This ought to be carried out in the course of de-monopolization, corporatization, and eventual privatization, as has been carried out in various countries (Geddes, 2011). Definitely this approach would be free up for the postal service industry to advance into a distinctive private conglomerate, and to offer itself on those routes it repudiates to serve up exclusive of subsidies. The postal service industry would as well be at no cost to set its rates as it desired. The utmost advantage of this approach, nevertheless, is that it would show the way to privatization. This would pass up a taxpayer post security by means of permitting the mammoth latent value in the network of postal service industry to be realized by the taxpayers who have possession of it. That network is precious and value for the prosperity of world postal industry.

If the postal industry is specified credit for the developments taking place, this implies that the industry has to add into the plans until the things are ordered, afterward it would be competent to deal with its existing financial problems. More importantly, if the postal service emerges truly as a private sector business, it would be proficient to scale back or bring to an end such financial intricacies ahead of arriving to this point. Nevertheless it is bound by exclusive regulations and congressional mandates that put a ceiling on it from successfully administering its finances such as an ordinary business. The point is that the Internet has hurt the postal service, nevertheless it has helped as well. The Internet might not be blamed as the driver for the postal service industry’s existing fiscal problems, in particular not if one remembers that principal years for mail size has been just current. The government shackled the postal service with a load predictable of no other business, paying out retiree health benefits at the present for staff who are yet to born. Plus if the postal service gets the credit for overpaying into its retirement funds, something just government might give permission that would lessen existing fiscal problems (Robison, 2011). However, definitely there are concerns in the government all around that are all set to crack ceremonial tribulations. As well as there are too plans to wedge the solutions, representing that the postal service’s ruin is more a political one than a fiscal one, conceivably undertaken as a justification to place the multibillion-dollar business in private hands. Although its collapse is moderately, if not fundamentally, contrived, it very well may well have real-world results that will concern the communication and business of each resident with that of puff up the position of the unwaged.
As far as the quantitative impact of Internet on postal service is concerned, as shown in Figure 1, for the first seven years of the decade, the normal yearly decline is somewhat 1% a year. That’s for the reason that whilst single-piece first-class is found trimming down at 5% yearly, mass first-class is found growing and making up for most of the fatalities. Subsequently the downturn punch, and volume first-class starts to decreasing at a rate far better than single-piece, therefore normal declines for the period between 2008 and 2010 is found 6.7% for first-class by and large. Specified that nothing unusual has taken place in the world of email and online bill paying through internet during the phase between 2007 and 2010, it is possible that the normal yearly turn down of 1% because of electronic variance carried on all through this period. As a result, just somewhat 4% of the 22% turn down for the period between 2007 and 2010 ought to be ascribed to the Internet. The downturn may well take the acclaim for the remaining 18% (http://www.savethepostoffice.com).

Figure 1: Quantitative Impact of Internet on Postal Service

Source: http://www.savethepostoffice.com

Notably, slow but sure declines because of the Internet just do not fit into the economic downturn and that the postal service, conservative and modern thinkers and business stakeholders wish for propagating in a bid to further their plans. Raining figure against the Internet creates the full-size declines appear enduring and this rationalizes fundamental responses such as closing up a large number of post offices, laying off a big number of staff unemployed, and more importantly dysfunctional unparalleled mail monopoly, and opening it up to private competition. However, one cannot push for these sorts of changes if the declines are due to the recession because economic downturns are temporary and don’t validate deep-seated transformations. The Internet effect is in due course very small because very little of the mail is household mail to begin with. The archetypal consumer clearly does not use the mail for individual communication very much for a long time. Populace may be making use of phones and email more than ever, and the role of the Internet in people’s lives may well be rising in very perceptible ways, but all this is not having a radically negative effect on the postal service. The damaging surface of the Internet’s effect is understandable nevertheless statistically less important than many would guess. Granted, it is difficult distinguishing between the impacts of the Internet and the effects of the recession, particularly for the reason that they vary for the different types of mail and because they are linked in many ways. For case in point, when the downturn pushes a business to switch some of its print advertising budget over to the Internet, what’s the cause of the decline in its use of the mail, the recession or the Internet? Postal Service operations managers are not going to be mentioning that at public hearings about post office closings. The line will keep on to be the matching, the postal service is losing billions because of the Internet, therefore post offices ought to close and the staff ought to reduce in size.

The Internet has made life easier and sooner in several ways, nevertheless it has as well created big headaches for a few industries and businesses, such as the postal service. Populace are using “snail mail” less and less, and it’s costing the post office more and more. The postal service supposed it expects to be beaten financing in current years. The grounds for that is principally the rising penetration of online activity and the growing approval by clients of carrying out transactions online. More importantly, the postal service is considering spectacularly rising mailing rates or cutting mail delivery. The service is cut for the reason that they characteristically just get bills or advertisements. Fast technical development and the performing of cyber-legislation have to a great extent unnatural the information and communications sector. The resulting trends, challenges and opportunities denote that the postal service’s foremost point is no longer the deliverance of letters and credentials. It is currently likely to be a total giving out contributor providing express delivery, fusion mail, open messaging and incorporated chain services.

To sum up, the advent of telecommunications, broadcasting and media has transformed the mode in which populace communicate. In this direction of development, digital technology is overriding the time-honored postal service as the fresh principal delivery platform for communications, notably shrinking the latter’s role. Communication by means of the Internet such as electronic mailing or e-mail is putting back communication through postal services. Above and beyond the benefits of speed and cost, email has the benefit of mobility, allowing populace to send and take delivery of mail globally. The financial vertebrae of the postal industry has had for all time been the first-class letter, nevertheless, the emergence of the Internet particularly, cellphone and fax additionally has consigned the unequaled letter to utter obsolescence. The postal service industry finds itself on the edge of financial destruction for the reason that since several years postal management deliberately overlooked this communications revolution. The unique community mission of “binding the nation together” of postal industry is patently out of date whilst populace in the regions of the world may well communicate instantaneously by means of the internet, and get just catalogs and advertisements through mail. The turn down in physical mail, and the increase in low-profit advertising content, is to be expected to carry on. The Internet has hurt the postal service, nevertheless it has helped as well. The Internet might not be blamed as the driver for the postal service industry’s existing fiscal problems, in particular not if one remembers that principal years for mail size has been just current. The government shackled the postal service with a load predictable of no other business, paying out retiree health benefits at the present for staff who are yet to born. Plus if the postal service gets the credit for overpaying into its retirement funds, something just government might give permission that would lessen existing fiscal problems. Notably, slow but sure declines because of the Internet just do not fit into the economic downturn and that the postal service, conservative and modern thinkers and business stakeholders wish for propagating in a bid to further their plans. Raining figure against the Internet creates the full-size declines appear enduring and this rationalizes fundamental responses such as closing up a large number of post offices, laying off a big number of staff unemployed, and more importantly dysfunctional unparalleled mail monopoly, and opening it up to private competition. The postal service is considering spectacularly rising mailing rates or cutting mail delivery. The service is cut for the reason that they characteristically just get bills or advertisements. Fast technical development and the performing of cyber-legislation have to a great extent unnatural the information and communications sector. The resulting trends, challenges and opportunities denote that the postal service’s foremost point is no longer the deliverance of letters and credentials.

REFERENCES

Gregory, A.(2011), “Saving the Postal Service in the Internet Age”, The New Work Times, the opinion pages, December 4.

Geddes, R. Richard (2011), “Reforming the Postal Service for the Internet Age”. [Online] accessed from http://www.aei.org/article/reforming-the-postal-service-for-the-internet-age/

Robison, M. (2011), “Did the Internet kill the Postal Service?”. [Online] accessed from http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2011/09/20/20110920postal-service-killed-by-internet.html

Save the Post Office (2015), “The Internet Myth: Why Email Isn’t Killing Snail Mail”. [Online] accessed from http://www.savethepostoffice.com/internet-myth-why-email-isnt-killing-snail-mail.