The state's telecommunications infrastructure isn't up to snuff. In the Information Age, that's not a good thing. But, at last, we're playing catch-up. As New Mexicans enter the new millennium, they find themselves in a world increasingly dominated, both at home and in the workplace, by information technology. Appointment books have given way to palm-sized computers.
Motorists drive with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on a cellular phone.
E-commerce has dramatically exceeded even the most optimistic projections of a couple of years ago. E-mail traffic has increased to the point that the Postal Service has discussed the possibility of seeking congressional approval to charge for it. Even for confirmed technophobes, an Internet connection is as necessary as voice telephone service. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was supposed to spur the deployment of telecommunications technology and provide consumers with more choices by opening the industry to unfettered competition. How well the act has succeeded in fulfilling that promise in New Mexico, however, is open to some question.