Abstract
Last year, based on my telecom experience, I offered a roadmap for building new types of internal incentives and potentially privatizing the Postal Service’s last mile delivery. One feature of the proposal was to introduce a universal service fund and use it to auction service territories in high-cost areas. In 2018, the FCC used universal service funds to stimulate broadband network buildouts in rural, high-cost unserved areas. The results indicate that new entrants offered to build networks at roughly 1/3 the price offered to incumbent broadband providers. This may be an indication that a more politically palatable way to fund traditional mail is not to raise prices or lower service quality, but instead to use a universal service fund to assure reasonably similar national prices and service levels. This paper will summarize the CAF-II auction results and connect them to last year’s proposal. It will also refer to the Trump Administration Task Force’s strategic plan.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
See Pitney Bowes website, available at https://www.pitneybowes.com/us/shipping-and-mailing/mail-and-parcel-sorters/presort-services.html
- 2.
Instructions for becoming a Contact Delivery Service are available online (WikiHow, How to become a Contact Delivery Service).
- 3.
Source Number of Postal Employees. Available at https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/employees-since-1926.pdf
- 4.
Census blocks, the smallest geographic area for which the Bureau of the Census collects and tabulates decennial census data. In a city, it typically refers to a block surrounded by streets. For more information, see https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2011/07/what-are-census-blocks.html
- 5.
The actual term used was a technologically neutral auction. See Connect America Fund Phase II Auctions highlights at https://www.fcc.gov/auction/903
References
Barber, A. (2018). The future of our postal service. Center for Economic and Policy Research, July 26, 2018. Available at http://cepr.net/publications/briefings/testimony/the-future-of-our-public-postal-service
Bittle, J. (2018). In Rural America, the postal service is already collapsing, The Nation, May 3, 2018. https://www.thenation.com/article/in-rural-america-the-postal-service-is-already-collapsing/
Buc, L. (2018). USPS retirement fund investment restrictions, SLS Consulting, Available from author.
Crew, M., & Kleindorfer, P. (2000). Privatizing the Postal Service. In E. Hudgins (Ed.) Mail @ Millennium: Will the Postal Service Go Private. Cato Institute. Available at https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS802US802&ei=hneSXKXgNbC7ggfi9a-QDQ&q=crew+and+kleindorfer+privatizing+the+postal+service+2000&oq=crew+and+kleindorfer+privatizing+the+postal+service+2000&gs_l=psy-ab.3...3403.17049..17516...9.0..0.175.3128.24j10......0....1..gws-wiz.9pDN_BLPXgc
Crew, M., & Kleindorfer, P. (2003). Postal privatization: In general and for the United States postal service. In D. Parket & D. Saal (Eds.), Handbook of privatization. Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Crew, M., & Kleindorfer, P. (2013). Privatization of postal operators: Old arguments in new realities. In M. Crew & P. Kleindorfer (Eds.), Reforming the postal sector in the face of electronic competition. Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Democratic Party Platform. (2016). Available at https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2016_DNC_Platform.pdf
DeSimone, N. (2018). Last mile delivery: Tough road for USPS, opportunity for private sector, Reason Foundation, March 7, 2018. Available at https://reason.org/commentary/last-mile-delivery-tough-road-for-usps-opportunity-for-private-sector/
Federal Communications Commission (2018). Connect America Fund Phase II Auction Scheduled for July 24, 2018 Notice and Filing Requirements and Other Procedures for Auction 903, AU Docket No. 17–182 and WC Docket No. 10–90, Public Notice, February 1, available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-18-6A1_Rcd.pdf
Geddes, R. (2004). Postal reform. Economic Journal Watch, 1(1), April 2004. Available at file:///C:/Users/vglass.BUSINESS/Downloads/2004-04-geddes-reach_concl%20(3).pdf
Geddes, R. (2005). Policy watch: Reform of the U.S. Postal Service. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(3), Summer 2005. Available at https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/089533005774357879
Glass, V. (2012). Delivering the goods to your door: RLEC/Postal connections, CRRI Postal Workshop 2012. See, A Possible Pilot Collaboration between Rural Telecom Providers and the Postal Service, issued by United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, February 8, 2013. Available at https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library/2013/rarc-ib-13-001.pdf
Glass, V. (2019). Creating last-mile incentives from inside-out. A template drawn from rural telecom. In P. L. Parcu, T. J. Brennan, & V. Glass (Eds.), New business and regulatory strategies in the postal sector. Switzerland: Springer.
Glass, V., & Tardiff, T. (2019) The federal communications commission’s rural infrastructure auction: What is hidden in the weeds? Available from the authors.
Hendel, D. P. (2017). Transportation subcontractors lead list of top U.S. Postal Service suppliers, March 17, 2017. Posted by Postal Service Contracting. Available at https://www.contractorsperspective.com/postal-service-contracting/transportation-contractors-lead-list-of-top-u-s-postal-service-suppliers/
Hunter, B. (2018). It’s time to privatize the postal service. Foundation for Economic Education, June 28, 2018. Available at https://fee.org/articles/its-time-to-privatize-the-united-states-postal-service/
Report from the Task Force on the United States Postal System. (2018). United States Postal Service: Sustainable Path Forward, December 2018. Available at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/USPS_A_Sustainable_Path_Forward_report_12-04-2018.pdf
Save the Post Office. (2018). Post Office discontinuances and suspensions: A decade in review, February 26, 2018. Available at https://savethepostoffice.com/post-office-discontinuances-and-suspensions-a-decade-in-review/
Save the Post Office. (2018a). How to privatize the Post Office: Piece by piece, step by step? June 24, 2018. Available at https://savethepostoffice.com/how-to-privatize-the-post-office-piece-by-piece-step-by-step/
United States Postal Regulatory Commission. (2017). Statutory review of the system for regulating rates and classes for market dominant products, Docket No. RM2017–3, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the System for Regulating Rates and Classes for Market Dominant Products, Order No. 4257, Issued December 1, 2017. Order No. 4257, (PAEA, 2017) Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov/docs/102/102709/Order%20No.%204257.pdf. “PRC Order 4257”.
United States Postal Regulatory Commission. (2017a), Statutory review of the system for regulating rates and classes for market dominant products, Docket No. RM2017–3, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the System for Regulating Rates and Classes for Market Dominant Products, Order No. 4258, (PAEA, 2017a) Issued December 1, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.prc.gov/docs/102/102715/Order4258.pdf. “PRC Order 4258”.
White House (OMB) Office of Management and Budget (2018), Delivering government solutions in the 21st century, June, 2018. Available at https://www.performance.gov/GovReform/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Glass, V. (2020). Potential Insights for US USO from Recent Federal Communication Commission’s Broadband Auctions. In: Parcu, P.L., Brennan, T.J., Glass, V. (eds) The Changing Postal Environment. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34532-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34532-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-34531-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-34532-7
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)