Access to full postal services is indispensable to many small and remote Austrian municipalities in rural and mountainous regions. Postal services are part of public services (public transport, local grocer´s, childcare, local elementary school etc.) which are vital for rural and mountainous regions. Content of this paper is an empirical evaluation of the effects of the restructuring of post offices in rural, mountainous areas in Austria by the Österreichische Post AG (Austrian Post) from 2002 to 2005. Firstly, the legal framework set up by the Federal Postal Law 1997 and the Postal Universal Service Ordinance (USO) 2002, which regulates the density of postal network and alternative solutions, has been clarified. Secondly, the alternative solutions for the closing of post-offices such as franchised counters (post partner offices), service points and mobile offices and their regional distribution have been examined. Finally the criteria which regulate the density of access points in other European countries have been analysed and assessed.
