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Telecommunications is the most important physical infrastructure in the modern world.
It is more important than roads because it can replace them. It is more important than office buildings because it allows for the formation of virtual offices. It is more crucial than legal and institutional systems because it surpasses national borders and undermines and subverts fossilized political structures. Telecommunications today is not limited to handsets, phone lines and telephony equipment. It incorporates computers and other media technologies.