PROVISION OF ACCESS TO THE POSTAL INFRASTRUCTURE: THE EXAMPLE OF LATVIA AND POLAND IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE E-ECONOMY

The article presents the situation on the postal services market of Latvia and Poland in the context of access to postal infrastructure and identified the selected economic policy tools that affect access to postal infrastructure, on the example of Latvia and Poland. In the article the main problem is to indicate that, despite the development of the e-economy and e-services, the role of the state is to provide access to postal infrastructure due to the problem of digital exclusion of citizens who do not have digital competences allowing for efficient functioning in the virtual space. The goals of the presented article are presentation of the situation on the postal services market of Latvia and Poland in the context of access to postal infrastructure and an indication of selected economic policy tools that affect the provision of access to postal infrastructure, on the example of Latvia and Poland. The following basic research hypothesis was adopted: In providing access to the postal infrastructure, the key issue is the identification and implementation of appropriate economic policy tools. Providing access to the postal infrastructure depends on several basic economic policy instruments that can inhibit or stimulate the development of infrastructure. The article shows that for the provision of access to postal infrastructure, they affect to a lesser or larger extent: designated operator, postal market regulator and regulations regarding access to postal infrastructure. The main proposals that will allow to solve the analyzed problem, which include: reacting in a situation when access to infrastructure is insufficient, especially in less urbanized and rural areas, as well as maintaining an appropriate quality level when access is sufficient.