The
Post Office is a monopoly in the services of
first class mail delivery and
postcards. Since there is a concern that persons living in remote and high crime areas would receive unfair service and/or grossly inflated prices,
federal regulations dictate that only the post office provide mail, so that there can be
universal service. Because of these concerns, the
US Post Office is the only entity which can provide
first class mail service.
There have been signs, however, that the post office is inching towards being a private corporation. Former Postmaster General William J Henderson recently wrote in the Washington Post that the Post Office was going to have to move towards full privatization if it were to remain at its current level of profitability. Additionally, many postal services in Europe have recently been privatized, and provide service as good, if not better, than before they were government entities. So, though the Post Office is currently a monopoly, it may not be for very much longer.