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And then, right at the end:
The point of a postal system isn't to generate profit (although they totally can), it's to ensure the populace can send things securely without having to do it themselves. But... if the Danish postal system (or at least the bit that delivers letters) isn't profitable... why would a private company voluntarily take it over? They'll have to make it profitable, which means gutting either the services offered and raising prices, or gutting the company itself and selling off assets. I'm not sure if they'll be able to do the latter, so maybe some kind of government subsidy to ensure a profit? But then, why privatise at all?
It's hard to see this as anything but concerning, for the Danish people.
At some point, the relevance of the system becomes so low, and the cost so high, that it doesn't make sense to maintain. Imagine still maintaining horse feeding stations along the roads.
I agree, the point of post isn't to be profitable. But when it's no longer critical infrastructure, and the state can't maintain it without extensive losses, then we should privatise it. If the private sector can't maintain it with a profit, and it remains non-critical, we should shut it down.
Not sure I buy the "not critical infrastructure" argument. Even if 95% of public (and private) correspondence is digital these days, paper-mail is still used as a fallback for some institutions and whenever a physical copy must be sent for whatever reason.
I don't think 95% is right, but in any case, when does it then stop being critical infrastructure? At 99% digital correspondence? 100%? Never?
Must we maintain a working national postal service, with all its employees and logistics, just in case?
That is an easy question to answer. Sending letters becomes non-critical when it is cheaper to send the incidental letter as a package than it is to maintain the letter sending service.
Keep in mind that Denmark is a very digitalized society. Nearly everything is digital secure mail, like bills and information from the municipality or government. I'd say it's closer to 99.5% than 95%.
Are you willing to give up the pamphlet with all current discounts in the supermarkets nearby just because the government doesn't want to mail you anymore? Joking, but still: I'm sure mail is still required for a variety of reasons.
I know you said you were joking but this is a terrible example as these have been digital and easily accessible via apps for a long time haha.
I'm struggling to think of cases where it is truly necessary. Obviously sometimes you get physical letters from banks to get new credit cards. But this is like, one letter every 5 years? Perhaps there's a few other things like that. But yea honestly I don't think the government has to be in charge of mail at that point as it is so underused.
That is actually one of my main uses of mail, and I do really appreciate them.
Regarding important things, I live in a foreign country and when I have to vote for my government I get sent a letter, I vote and send back the letter. If the country I lived in removed mail I would not be able to vote in this way.