Real competition remains on the horizon.
So it goes. And this is the state that's home to two of the world's most advanced research institutions, the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with the idea of introducing competition into local phone service which, at least theoretically, would result in more and better products and services. Take long distance service, for example. At this moment, things aren't exactly going as planned.